From Ramble, Hanover to King’s House

When Justice of the Peace Oral Donovan Lewis got his Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service from Governor General Patrick Allen on the lawns of King’s House in St Andrew, yesterday, it was for his over three decades of service to agriculture.

The word is that he has made a significant contribution to Jamaica’s agricultural sector through research, farm management, agricultural extension, seeds and seedlings production/distribution, teaching and entrepreneurship.

The brief walk to collect his national accolade was a long way from Ramble in the western parish of Hanover, where his life was surrounded by agriculture. Though education was key for his painter father, who was also a subsistence farmer, and a domestic mother, the children had to play their role in feeding themselves and the family, in which there were seven siblings, four boys and three girls. It was a good blend of books and farming, Lewis told The Gleaner in a pre-event interview.

He attended Hanover’s Mount Ward Primary and Knockalva Secondary schools, where he was deputy head-boy, before moving on to nearby Knockalva Agricultural School (KAS). “Those three years at KAS … to me, had the most profound educational impact on me. Practical experiences in all of the disciplines were there,” he said. He also did well academically.

After KAS, Lewis went from the west to the east, to Passley Gardens, Portland, where he enrolled at the College of Agriculture, now the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) for two years. His next academic move was to the St Augustine campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) in Trinidad to pursue a bachelor of science degree in general agriculture, on study leave. His thesis focused on a survey of beekeepers in Jamaica.

Lewis had spent the time between the College of Agriculture and UWI working as a research assistant in the entomology department, with a focus on apiculture, at Bodles Research Station in Old Harbour, St Catherine. After completing his studies, he returned to Bodles, where he served as head of the Apiculture Unit, and discovered that he was allergic to bee stings. And, although he loved the job, he left it.

“As much as I loved it, and I think I did well on the job, somehow, whenever I got bee stung, it seemed to not recede as much as it would be with other persons. So, after a while, you think you would have got used to it, but for me it was not happening,” he explained.

University experience

From the bees to bananas, Lewis went, in 1992, to the 400-acre St Mary Banana Estates Ltd, owned by the Jamaica Producers (JP) group, as a trainee manager. There were 250 employees, and he had six or so subordinates on a daily basis, working towards the exporting of bananas to the UK.

The hours were long, he said. He lived on the compound and was on call throughout the nights. Yet, he was young and unmarried, so, the stress was not unbearable, and he had some amount of flexibility. He got married in 1994 and left JP four years later, after five years in farm management and one year in procurement. Overall, it was a good experience, he shared, his “university experience away from university”. “I loved it. It was a good chapter of my life. I loved it a lot,” he declared.

The small farmer sector, through the Banana Export Company EU Support Programme, was where Lewis was employed from 1998 to 2006, as an extension officer in St James, Clarendon, St Catherine, Portland, St Mary and St Thomas. It was a special programme to help small farmers to compete in the international trade.

Lewis returned to the government in 2006, 20 years now, as the coordinator of extension services at the Banana Board, working with banana farmers from across the country. The recovery of the banana industry that was devastated last year by Hurricane Melissa in western Jamaica comes under his portfolio. He works closely with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority parish managers to put things in place.

Since 1996, Lewis has been supplying high-quality Scotch bonnet pepper seeds and seedlings to commercial and subsistence farmers. His business, Lewiscotch Nursery and Seeds, is an easily recognised name on the Jamaica’s agricultural landscape. It has supported the growth and development of backyard gardening and commercial crop production, making a variety of seeds and seedlings accessible to Jamaicans interested in growing their own food.

And, being a university graduate himself, Lewis has contributed significantly to education in agriculture. He guest-lectures and facilitates practical sessions at CASE and other institutions. Needy students, primarily in the field of agriculture, have benefitted from scholarships and bursaries he has provided.

When The Gleaner asked the father of two children, one who is a nurse, and the other who is studying dentistry at UWI, “Why do you think you got the award?”, he replied, “I believe that my contribution to the sector has been there for those who want to see. It is there as evidence, both my work life, and also, my business, the impact and the reach that I’ve had over the years.”

And, how does he feel to be honoured nationally? “I am elated about it, not that I worked for it, I am just doing my thing, and I am happy that I was considered. And I really feel proud about it, and I’m happy about it. Just unfortunate that my mom and my dad would not be here to witness or be a part of it … a lot of people are happy for me,” he shared.

“And, also as a Christian person, I would never leave out that … God is the centre of my life and He has made this possible. So, it is not just about me, Oral Lewis, it is about the God that I serve … . Whatever happened in my life, it is the influence of the Lord.”

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