Kingstown, 23 October 2025 (IICA). In the archipelago of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, this banana producer has made farming her life and her purpose. “My name is Nioka Abbott-Balcombe and I am a farmer by profession”, she introduces herself. She quickly makes it clear that for her, being a farmer is not just a job, but a way of contributing to society. “I am happy to be a farmer because as a farmer I can produce food for my community and my family”, she sums up.
For her work as a producer and promoter of the values of working the land, Abbott-Balcombe is recognized as one of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Nioka will receive the Soul of Rurality award, created by the international organization to honor those who make their contribution to food and nutritional security and sustainability in the region and around the world.
Nioka’s story as a farmer begins in childhood, under the guidance of her great-grandmother. “My mother left me with my great-grandmother when I was three months old”, she recalls. “She was a farmer, and when I was five, she started taking me to the farm. From a very young age, I began to understand the importance of agriculture”.
However, Nioka first chose an urban path: she worked in a restaurant for five years to save resources before establishing her own farm. “With three children to support, I chose to work at the restaurant to save money. I did that for five years so I could have the resources to start my farm”, she explains. With discipline and vision, she launched her banana production, following in the footsteps of other successful farmers in the region.
Banana cultivation requires months of care and precision. To start, “you need to identify land, clear it, plant and fertilize, protect the fruit from birds and diseases”, she explains.
“It takes around seven months before the first batch is ready, and then another two months of care until harvest”, she continues. “In the past, we used to start harvesting in the field, packing the bananas for shipment to quality control centers, from where they were exported to England”.
Banana cultivation requires months of care and precision: it involves identifying land, clearing the field, planting, fertilizing, waiting seven months before the first batch is ready, and then another two months until harvest.
A not so “perfect” banana in London
As a true rural producer, Nioka is a strong advocate of natural foods. To illustrate this, she shares an anecdote. “When I was in Great Britain in 2001, I tried a banana in a well-known supermarket”, recounts the producer from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. “They told me it was ripe, but to me, it wasn’t yet”. Big companies, she reflects, “use all kinds of advertising to sell their products, and this makes people look for the ‘perfect’ fruit. As a result, many good bananas end up being discarded just because of their external appearance”. The story resonates with any reader living in a city who has at one time or another been disappointed by fruits and vegetables that look good but lack flavor.
In addition to bananas (and after a series of geopolitical and commercial changes that discouraged banana cultivation), Nioka diversified her production, adding cassava, sweet potato, yam and vegetables to secure income and resilience in the face of market fluctuations.
“Farmers are creative. We realized that monocropping is dangerous, so we diversified with cassava, sweet potato, vegetables—anything that has a market”, Abbott-Balcombe explained.
For Nioka, life in the countryside is not only economically valuable but also a healthy way of living. “I truly believe with all my heart that farm life is very economical. You can earn money and it’s also a form of exercise. I tell my friends who go to the gym that they pay to stay in shape, while I get paid to stay in shape”, she says with a smile.
In addition to her work, Nioka is committed to passing on her experience to the next generations. She chaired the WALCO cooperative (Women in Agriculture Langley Park Cooperative), where women producers support each other and welcome visits from students to introduce young people to farming.
“We show children how farm tasks are carried out so they can develop a love for the land from a very young age. But many young people rarely say they want to be farmers, perhaps because of the difficulties they see at home”, Abbott-Balcombe laments, acknowledging that the hard work and commercial challenges parents face can often drive their children away from farming.
Containers and new technologies
As something of a “philosopher” of farming and healthy food, Nioka also reflects on how the virtues of the farm can be brought into the city. Even in urban spaces, she suggests, “plastic containers can be used to grow cabbages, tomatoes and peppers. If every urban household could set up just five containers to produce vegetables, we would have healthier food grown by ourselves”, not only in the countryside but also amid the concrete and asphalt of city life.
Regarding technology and age, Nioka acknowledges that advances are available but takes a selective approach. “As a 68-year-old farmer, I am not so interested in new technologies”, she admits. “I plant crops I can manage, mainly sweet cassava and bananas”. And while she highlights that technology workshops “are useful” for producers, “age and adverse weather events force us to be creative and focus on planting hurricane-resistant crops”.
Finally, Nioka celebrates the self-sufficiency and independence she has achieved by dedicating her life to farming. “I became my own boss, and I am proud to be a farmer. My greatest achievement is being self-reliant, like my great-grandmother, who was independent all her life and very happy”, she says nostalgically.
At the WALCO cooperative, Nioka and other women farmers show children how agricultural tasks are carried out so they can develop a love for the land from an early age.
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