SUNDAY 19 MARCH, 2017 – UWI TODAY
13
AGRICULTURE
SUPERHERO
of the
SOIL
Alpha Sennon brings creativity and passionate advocacy to agriculture
B Y D I X I E - A N N B E L L E
issue of world food. “We want young people to take on this
challenge and feed this country, feed the world by 2050.”
Dr. Wayne Ganpat, Dean of the Faculty of Food and
Agriculture at the St. Augustine Campus, approves of his
approach. “Alpha’s goal is to popularise agriculture among
young people. He is transferring the message that it is a
worthy profession.”
TheWHYFARM teamhas been going into schools, and
the response has been keen as they bring “agri-edutainment”
into the classroom. It is not just a talk, but a captivating
performance featuring AGRIman. Later on the school gets
to visit an actual farm where Sennon often hears students
exclaiming that they didn’t know agriculture could be
like this. WHYFARM also has an online fan club where
youngsters can suggest new stories and characters for the
AGRIman comic book.
Like a kind of AGRIman himself, Sennon has been
roaming around the world talking about his organisation
and exploring new approaches. “Everywhere he goes Alpha
is a good ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago, a good
ambassador for UWI and a good ambassador for the Faculty
of Food and Agriculture,” observes Dr. Ganpat.
Sennon has been a guest speaker at the United Nations.
He gave a talk on innovation in Rome at the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Last year he
was one of the representatives at the Young Leaders of the
Americas Initiative (YLAI) fellowship programme. He
joined 250 social entrepreneurs for a six-week exchange
which included placements with organisations in 21 city
hubs across the USA.
Sennonwas impressedwith his experience. Hemet with
representatives of the PB&J Fund, and the Local Food Hub,
We are familiar with superheroes
in comic books and
movies flying in to save the world from danger. You might
be surprised to know a Trinidadian superhero named
AGRImanmay be flying into theatres one day to help young
people solve the world’s food supply problems. At least
that’s what Alpha Sennon, Founder and Executive Director
of WHYFARM envisions. In just two years, Sennon’s
organisation (which stands for We Help Youth Farm) has
had an enthusiastic response locally and has already gained
interest in countries across the world like the USA, Rwanda,
Haiti and Zambia.
Sennon, aged 30, developed the NGO to get young
people interested in local agriculture. As he talks about why
so few youth gravitate toward this industry, Sennon reveals
that he speaks from experience. His father was a farmer and
as a child Sennon hated agriculture.
“It always appeared to be hard work. It always appeared
to be not cool, not fun, not attractive, not something I could
do as a profession, to earn a livelihood, to see about a family.”
Perhaps because of his aversion to farming, it took
Sennon some time to find the subject that would become
his passion. “Why not try agribusiness?” suggested a dean
at UWI and Sennon was hooked.
He began to see agriculture differently. The potential
became more apparent as he visited other countries. During
a trip to India the name WHYFARM came to him.
The organisation reflects his desire to help young people
realise the potential of the industry. “Agriculture is more
than just a farmer,” he says. “There’s science, technology.
There’s engineering. There’s heritage. There are arts, you
know.”
Sennon wants to encourage youths to combat the
Find out more about
WHYFARM
For more information on the
Faculty of Food and Agriculture
visit
/
discussing food safety, nutrition and agricultural investment
among youth. He found himself considering incorporating
a healthy eating component to WHYFARM.
For him, one of the highlights included meeting with
Chic Thompson, author of “What a Great Idea.” Several
projects are due to come from their collaboration, including
starting a WAGI Labs (Thompson’s animation company)
based in Trinidad and developing a creative activity-based
curriculum for AGRIman.
Sennon is grateful to Dr. Ganpat, who first suggested
agriculture to him, and to The UWI for its support. “The
Faculty of Food and Agriculture contributed a lot to my
development today and still contributes.” Dr. Ganpat is the
supervisor for his thesis.
“It requires a considerable effort to get agriculture
moving again,” he says. “We have to get the public to buy
in. The Faculty of Food and Agriculture views it as our
responsibility to undertake this task. Alpha’s advocacy fits
into that nicely. I support him 100% and in fact we are
looking into providing him a space on campus to work
from.”
Looking at all the progress Sennon has made, it’s clear
that he has his own super power: that of using his passion
to make a huge difference in his community and inspiring
young people. World agriculture and food security truly
have a hero fighting for the cause.
PHOTO: SEAN MIGUEL MORRISON
