Despite the many commercial edifices that now take up Port Antonio square, there is still a place for farmers, albeit a reduced one.

Oscar Jackson is one such farmer. He has been in the industry for over 30 years.

"Mi plant banana, sweet potato, plantain, every likkle mix," he said from the veranda of his home in the Boundbrook community of Port Antonio. He bemoaned the fact that one of the main purchasers of farmers' goods closed down years ago.

"You could ship t'ings (your goods)," he said. "You didn't make a great deal of money but you could sell in bulk. A lot of those places close down now." He said he takes his produce to market on a few days and has some customers come to his gate on others, but he isn't 'rolling in dough'.

"Sales not so wonderful. People don't have the money so your products spoil or you get little or nothing for them," he said. Jackson's father was a farmer and, along with friends, helped develop the profession, passing it on to his son.

"The young generation, they don't worry with it," he chuckled. "They say it's too hard. I don't know what they doing now. It's like dem go sleep a day time," he said.

He recalled that the 1960s "weren't too bad" but in the '80s, he said that things started to slow.

He said that there needed to be greater marketing for the produce.

Jackson said he also had challenges with the weather as the wind sometimes blew down his bananas.

"Put in more jobs. We need more institutions to employ people. Things would go on better," he said.