Coffee farmer hopes for better prices

Milton Taylor stands at his shop preparing a bottle of Noni wine for sale in Dublin Castle, St Andrew.

Most of his doors and windows are shut tight. If it was three years ago, when his coffee business was booming, chances are the news team would not have encountered the friendly Rasta man as he would be busy on his farm. He stated that a fall in coffee prices has been affecting his livelihood, as farming the beans has been his main source of income for decades.

"Right now my coffee farm basically dead because it hard for us farmers to maintain it with the major dip in the coffee prices. Right now mi can't even hire a man to help mi out the way tings stay bad. Right now is $7,000 a box and it used to be $11,000 and when yuh go bank with the cheque, yuh still have to pay a little fee to change it. Mi a beg dem [the relevant authorities] to raise di price because right now is like mi nuh have the vibes but mi still a gwan do mi ting," he said.

Pointing to two containers in his shop that are filled with coffee beans, Taylor, who is in his 50s, said that he is aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country's economy. Taylor told THE STAR that planting and nourishing the beans to maturity is not an easy task and takes a lot of dedication.

"Sometimes mi wake up from all 4 o'clock in the morning, rain or shine. The night dew fall heavy suh we have to be in our 'tall up' gears because the place cold bad. It take all three hours to pick a box weh weigh about 57 pounds and we have to walk the distance to bring it come a road. It's a whole heap a work eno," Taylor said.

However, he said that he will continue to cultivate the beans as he is not in a position to throw in the towel.

"Mi used to sell a little ting at mi shop like liquor and so forth but from COVID come in, mi just lock it down. The police dem say mi a diss the prime minister because mi nah lock on time suh mi just leave it alone. Right now is just the coffee price mi wah fi go back up because Jamaica have the best grade of coffee. Mi plant a batch recently suh mi a just gwan wait on it," he said.