Farmer’s profile: Derick Amade - ‘Farming is more a labour of love than a profit-making business’ |18 May 2018

Derick Amade, 38, and a resident of Bel Ombre is the owner of a farm (approximately 180,000 square metres) at La Misère, with 20 years of experience in the profession. At the age of 18, during his construction studies at the Seychelles Polytechnic, his grandmother gifted him a small part of her land where he did small-scale farming, mainly growing watercress, after school hours.

Following completion of his studies, Derick began working on his farm on a full-time basis and thereafter, expanded the land to increase production.

The farm

For some time, Derick produced a wide variety of crops on his farm, including lettuce, Chinese cabbage, cucumber and pumpkin. He then decided to cultivate only watercress in order to specialise in this particular crop.

In 2009, the water that Derick was using for farming purposes destroyed all the watercress on the farm following pollution of the La Misère river with diesel. This forced him to relocate to another plot of land in the same area, which according to Derick, is not so ideal for farming.

As a result, he now produces a small amount of watercress and focuses more on cultivating herbs and spices, such as thyme, coriander, parsley, rosemary, mint and chilli. He sells his produce at the main market in Victoria on Fridays and at fairs organised by the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (Senpa) and the Seychelles Agricultural Agency. He also cultivates flowering plants and says that he is famous in Seychelles for producing and selling twelve different types of Dahlia flowers.

Despite his wish to return to his previous farm, a lack of financing to clean the land hinders Derick from doing so. To complement his work at his current farm, he has started venturing into value-added products, such as salads and fresh local fruit juices using produce from his farm, and which he sells from ‘Mime’s Food’ bus at Bel Ombre.

Photo montage of Derick’s farm

Average working day at the farm

First thing every morning, Derick checks on his farm and if all is well, he proceeds to prepare food and drinks for sale in the food bus. Afternoons are spent at the farm, mainly managing his workers and making compost.

Derick chooses to use more organic input, such as chicken manure and wood mulch for composting. He explains that this is not only beneficial for our health, but it prevents the use of chemical fertilisers from destroying the farmland. He adds that although organic input is more expensive than chemical fertilisers, using wood mulch to make his own compost helps to keep his costs down.

Importance of local produce

Derick is a firm believer that although local fruits and vegetables are costly to produce, they are much more nutritive for us than imported produce which are filled with chemicals and which are not good for our health.

He adds that he has visited many farms abroad through the Farmers Association and he has observed heavy use of pesticides/chemical fertilisers, instead of organic manure. 

It is a shame, according to Derick, that many people want perfect-looking, beautiful fruits and vegetables, as many do not realise that when crops are produced organically, they will not look as beautiful. He reminds us that if local produce has minor defects, it is only because it has been produced organically and not because it is not fresh or nutritive.

Derick is intent on finding ways to reduce the prices of local fruits and vegetables for our population. He believes that farmers should team up and discuss what each farm should focus on producing, based on what would grow best on each farm; this would ensure continuous supply of all fruits and vegetables, hence reducing the price of such goods.

The challenges of the industry

According to Derick, there is too much unnecessary importation of fruits and vegetables and this affects local farmers as hotels seem to prefer purchasing their produce from importers. He strongly suggests that the relevant authorities work towards ensuring that only crops that cannot be grown here are imported into the country. It is as a result of this issue that Derick has ventured into value-added products.

Local farmers also face difficulties with regard to having key farming equipment, e.g. excavators, which can be very expensive. A lack of such equipment affects the work of farmers and in turn, they are unable to produce as much as they potentially can. He feels that the relevant authorities should ensure that loans are readily accessible to farmers so that they can invest in machinery to improve their work and increase supply. Additionally, he suggests that the government also imports some key equipment, e.g. shed cloths, to further help improve the situation.

With regard to the lack of youth entering the farming industry, Derick admits that he does not blame them for choosing not to join this industry. For a start-up farm business, only a small plot of land is allocated to young farmers and this usually tends to be in a forested area which needs to be heavily cleared ‒ a major expense. Derick believes that the government should help young farmers to clear their land so that they do not have to incur these additional costs and in the process, attract more youth to become farmers.

Derick adds that it is not easy to make a profit as a farmer but, it is rather a trade that you join merely because you love seeing your crops growing, seeing your animals on the farm and gain a sense of satisfaction when your customers appreciate your produce and keep returning for more.

The future

His own plans for the future are not so simple, says Derick as he has many projects he would like to venture into, such as animal husbandry and setting up other food outlets, a butcher shop, as well as a watercress farm.

It is also Derick’s wish that all local farmers will team up and put forward their concerns, as well as their project proposals to the relevant authorities together rather than as individuals.

Derick hopes that the government will listen to the concerns and ideas of local farmers even more and learns to value farmers as he feels that they are often seen in a narrow light, especially when they are young.

He is also hopeful that the budget for the agricultural industry will be increased in the future as he believes that this is relatively small compared to budgets given to other areas of national concern.

Photo sources: Derick Amade