Since the tender age of 17, Michael Swaby has been an ardent coconut farmer in the scenic hills of Crescent, St. Mary.
Never did he imagine that the sustainable practices he employs to maintain his passion-turned-business on his 38-acre farm would one day make him the best in the world in coconut farming.
It was, therefore, the most delightful surprise when he received news in November, last year, that he was voted the ‘World’s Best Innovative Coconut Farmer’, at a conference in Malaysia, topping entries from 21 coconut-producing countries.
“It was shocking… hard to believe. A lot of the other countries, I didn’t know them and I thought they were more ahead of us in terms of practices and all the different [activities] that they were doing. I didn’t have any idea that I would be even close to competing with them,” Mr. Swaby, now 54, told JIS News.
Since winning the award he has also been named among 20 Jamaicans who have been named as winners of the Agriculturalist Newspaper Legacy Awards for Jamaica 60.
Mr Swaby explains that he was nominated for the Coconut Farmers Award by the Coconut Industry Board (CIB), following his many years of association with the entity.
In 2016, he benefited from a regional training course put on by the CIB, in association with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), the Scientific Research Council (SRC) and the European Union (EU). From there, he was selected as a lead farmer to assist others in his community and to continually develop his and others’ farming practices.
Detailing some of his innovative measures that contributed to the international accolade, Mr. Swaby notes that, “I don’t waste anything… even the very husk, we sell them back as compost material. Some of the training that we got was to use everything back from the nut”.
He points out that one of his biggest concerns has always been deciphering ways to make money from his waste. “Even now, I am trying to use the shell to do things that make use of it and every part of the coconut itself. There are things that we can do beyond the coconut oil and coconut water,” he adds.
The fruitful ‘Swaby’s Farm’ also features tilapia fishponds, which double as a water source in dry times.
Mr. Swaby practises intercropping, and plants bananas, plantains, apples, mangoes and other crops while also rearing livestock, such as goats, chickens and pigs.
With his up to 10 workers, he reaps more than 1,000 coconuts per week, which he supplies to customers in St. Ann and St. Mary on Wednesdays and Fridays. He also bottles the coconut water for other markets.
He got the farm from his father in the 1980s.
“Most of the land was in total woods, so we had to cut it down. Banana and coconut were the most feasible crops in St. Mary at that particular time, so we ventured into banana and then later we did both banana and coconuts,” he recalls.
Today, the veteran farmer is the President of the Crescent Farmers’ Group, where he mentors and guides other farmers.
He points out that receiving the title of ‘World’s Best Innovative Coconut Farmer’ has not only been an honour but also a boost to his business.
The 50th International COCOTECH Conference (ICC) and Exhibition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, under the theme ‘Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy for a Resilient and Sustainable Coconut Agro-industry’.
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By: Mikella Anderson (JIS)
World’s Best Innovative Coconut Farmer, Michael Swaby, chops a coconut on his 38-acre farm in Crescent, St. Mary, while wife Primrose Swaby, looks on.
Coconut farmer Michael Swaby pauses for a photo with wife Primrose Swaby; son, Michael Swaby Jr. (third left), and grandson, Jaiesh Grant. Mr. Swaby was voted the World’s Best Innovative Coconut Farmer at a conference in Malaysia last year.
Swaby 5 – World’s Best Innovative Coconut Farmer, Michael Swaby, observes bananas that are planted on his farm in Crescent, St. Mary.
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