PORTLAND, Jamaica – Bammy, cassava flour, cassava chips, coconut oil and Busta Sweetie are traditional products made by Maroons, and – a winning combination in cultural preservation and community entrepreneurship. This was the thinking of the JN Foundation’s Members Advisory Council (MAC) of Port Antonio, Portland when they approved grant funding for the construction of a 50x 20 feet Cassava House in Charles Town, Portland.
“With the ‘Eat What You Grow’ campaign now on, and knowing that unemployment is one of the major problems in Charles Town, we were happy to fund this project,” says Ms. Nadine McLean, MAC member.
Noting that the Charles Town Maroons were a group that worked on their own initiative, Ms. McLean said she knew this income generating project would be sustainable.
Mr. Frank Lumsdem, leader of the Charles Town group explained that when the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton made his call for Jamaicans to eat more cassava, they were happy, as farmers in the community were always planting cassava. While others scoffed at the suggestion, the Maroons decided to seek funding to start making by-products of this versatile tuber that grows all year round.
“We are grateful to the JN Foundation for this, as we now have a house big enough not only to make bammies, cassava flour and cassava chips but, we have decided to revive another tradition of making our own coconut oil as well as Staggaback, also known as Busta Sweeties from the trash of the coconut, which is usually used to feed fowls,” Mr. Lumsden said.
Employing ten persons to grate the cassavas and coconuts, the traditional way, the Charles Town Maroons to date are turning some 100lbs. of cassava weekly into bammies, flour and chips which is supplied to two hotels and six supermarkets in the parish. Alongside this, approximately 3,000 sweeties are made; and as much as 40 bottles of coconut oil, based on the supply of coconuts.
Busta
“We are looking for more markets locally as well as overseas, so that more persons can be employed,” Mr. Lumsden explained, adding of plans to ”spruce up” the area and make it into a community tourism attraction.
Already, students from the Paul Bogle Junior High School spent a day amongst the Maroons and watched as bammies were prepared for lunch, the traditional way. Mr. Lumsden is willing to accommodate more school visits as he felt the exercise was important for the younger generation to learn these cultural traditions.
“It was a wonderful experience for the students and when we were served the bammies it was the first time most of them were eating it,” Ms. Annmarie Lewis, the Literature Teacher of the book the Young Warriors, explained. She had taken the students on a field trip to the area “to get a feel of the book” which recounts the life of some young Maroons Warriors.
Bammy
Everard Palmer, a visitor to the site is pleased to see these traditional products back on the market. “I am impressed with the Staggaback sweetie, it is good that they could use this by product of the coconut in this way,” he stated. He pointed out that now that coconut oil is being touted as a good source of fat, it is great that the group can make a living using the product, and maintain the methodology from their traditional way of life.
Mr. Edison Taylor, Manager of the Port Antonio Branch, of the Jamaica National Building Society, which supports the JN Foundation and its MAC projects, said on a recent visit to the Cassava House he was pleased to see the positive impact it has had on the community. “We need more locally grown and produced products to get our economy to grow,” he added, pleased with the number of things this MAC project has generated.
