• Company status : Registered business.
• Year of registration :
• Number of employees : 2 including 1 woman.
• Business sector : Agricultural production.

Kashar Daniel – Managing Partner

Kashar Daniel is the Managing Partner at Fresh Harvest, a farm dedicated to sustainable food production. She is a passionate advocate for youth in agricultural sector, serving as Treasurer for the Saint Lucia Agricultural Forum for Youth, an organization that encourages young people to engage in the agricultural sector. Previously, she held the role of Vice Board Chair at Helen’s Daughters, an agricultural organization focused on empowering women across the industry’s value chain. With a background in business and marketing, her interest in agriculture was driven by a desire to support her aging parents in making their farming operations more efficient and profitable.

Background

Fresh Harvest is a 4-acre farm located in one of the main agricultural regions on the island of Saint Lucia. Employing innovative technologies and good agricultural practices to ensure a safe, sustainable and fresh supply of fruits and vegetables, Fresh Harvest strives to have a positive environmental impact. The story of Fresh Harvest commenced when Kashar’s parents retired from the banana industry, and she decided to transform the farm holding with her business partner, who has a background in software development. The two decided to incorporate technologies on the farm that are cost effective and simple, while maintaining the open field production concept. In addition to managing Fresh Harvest, they also work to enhance the operations of the average farmer and assist local farmers to make necessary changes for sustainable resources management.

Position in the market

Fresh Harvest is implementing agri-technologies on the farm to improve sustainable and efficient resource use management.

Vision: To make notable contributions towards food security and the health and wellbeing of the people, while inspiring a new generation of farmers.

Mission: The sustainable production of quality and safe produce, without harm to the environment, using technology and good agricultural practices.

Relationships

An important linkage for Fresh Harvest has been the partnership fostered with the local business, E&E Agro Chemicals. This partnership has allowed Fresh Harvest to conduct on-farm chemical trials and to provide training opportunities for the youth farmers at the St. Lucia Agricultural Forum for Youth (SLAFY). Fresh Harvest recognises the vital importance of engaging the new generation of farmers, due to the challenges associated with the aging population of the agriculture industry in Saint Lucia. Fresh Harvest hosts training session on topics such as precision nutrient management, teaching the application of fertilisers in fertigation systems. Fresh Harvest has also hosted members of the SLAFY to discuss the challenges of getting young people interested in the sector.

Main products

Fresh Harvest produces a range of fruits and vegetables which are sold by bulk or processed into value added products. Cabbages, bell peppers and pineapples are sold to their retail markets, while specialty items such as coconut water and cherry tomatoes are sold directly to customers at a premium price.

To diversify its portfolio while also supporting local agribusinesses, Fresh Harvest also grows and sells seedlings to farmers.

Main markets

Fresh Harvest engages in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) sales locally. The business supplies the local market in efforts to reduce the food import bill and to contribute to food security in the region.

Main services

Horticultural production and processing.

Milestones

Fresh Harvest is on a mission to establish better farming practices – the team is consistently researching good practices and using technology to make farming easier. Recently, one of the streams that Fresh Harvest derives its water source from went completely dry for three weeks. To offset this, they built a water dam to secure the supply needed to carry out production processes throughout dry periods. During the construction of the dam, Fresh Harvest ensured that excess water flowed back into the river to not compromise the ecosystem.

With climate change continuing to impact growing seasons, Fresh Harvest is investing into adaptive and innovative technologies. In addition to the dam and rainwater harvesting systems, it has established a mixture of tools that enable the efficient use of water including gravity fed driplines, timers and fertigation systems. Fresh Harvest is also in the midst of installing moisture and water flow sensors.

The farm engages in open field growing in addition to implementing grow bags and hoop houses. A battery-operated backpack sprayer is used to increase the speed of fertilisation applications.

In addition to maintaining production, Fresh Harvest invests into other practices aimed at restoration and sustainability around the farm, such as riverbank stabilisation.

Needs for upscalling

Fresh Harvest would like to invest into precision agriculture and protected structures and equipment on the farm. To facilitate these changes, it needs support to build capacity in soil and water management and in the installation and maintenance of solar systems. Fresh Harvest also requires support for retrofitting their packhouse to include storage so that it can operate more efficiently in terms of post-harvesting techniques, thus enabling market-ready produce. Fresh Harvest is also hoping to go further into agro-processing to reduce food waste.

The company is working to install a smart-irrigation system, which will allow for real-time information about the moisture content of the soil to be sent to an application which will automatically turn on their irrigation lines to provide the right amount of water when needed. This will help to reduce wastage, promoting efficient water usage and ensuring healthy plant growth. The company is aiming to scale this smart irrigation system to be able to provide this to other farmers.

Another aspect of Fresh Harvest’s expansion plans includes more mechanisation. Farm labour is very intensive, and incorporating more mechanisation such as rotor tillers to replace traditional pitch forks will help to reduce this. The company also plans to invest into the building of greenhouses, which will help to increase resilience to environmental changes, and allow for year-round production.

Fresh Harvest is tapping into the various stages of the production process by selling fresh and processing fruits and vegetables, growing and selling seedlings to other farmers, providing on-site training and scaling the use of agri-technologies to support local farmers. Incorporating technology into farm activities has led to a reduction in labour, increased efficiency and a resilient and sustainable production system. This approach has greatly reduced the time spent on farm chores, which is essential since Kashar maintains full employment in addition to running the farm. Notably, while the introduction of the smart irrigation system required high initial implementation costs, the long-term outcomes have led to reduced labour and lower production costs.

Kashar is an active proponent of actions that equip young farmers with the tools and knowledge to grow their agribusinesses, while building resilience to climate change and preserving natural resources. Kashar was a participant in the “Green to Compete” bootcamp by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Caribbean Export, which allowed the Fresh Harvest team to take an objective view of their operations and plans moving forward, in addition to increasing their awareness on green financing opportunities.

Following Kashar’s participation in the Caribbean Agrifood Business Session n°9, she has gained more recognition and visibility and have since been asked to speak and share her experience at other forums including Climate Change impact on Food security with the Food & Hygiene Bureau of Jamaica. This also facilitated her participation in several projects centred around smart farming techniques and climate change mitigation. Through those initiatives, she was able to receive inputs and farm equipment to help build resilience against destructive weather events. Not only did her business operations grow but also a marked improvement in her personal development.

Additional Resources

• Business Profile (English)
• Fiche d'entreprise (Français)
• Perfil Empresarial (Español)