THE Jamaica 4-H Clubs has, for years, played an integral part in exposing young people to agriculture and its importance to the nation.

For the most part, this has been achieved through its school-based clubs. Club activities allow students and young adult members to participate in activities such as the 4-H parish achievement days, summer camps, the youth in agriculture programme and the 4-H Boy and Girl of the Year competition.

Michael Griffiths – a fifth-form student at the Calabar High School in Kingston – was, last year, the 4-H Boy of the Year. He has been a member of the 4-H Club since his days as a student at the Ensom City Primary School.

Today, he says it is one of the best things that could have happened to him.

“I became a part of the 4-H Club because it was a requirement of Ensom City Primary School that persons in Grade Four to Six should become a part of a club. Since the 4-H was open at the time, I became a part of it,” Griffiths said in an interview with JIS News.

He added that there was little question of the many benefits to be derived form involvement in the club.

“It provides a safe community for youngsters today. You have activities in agriculture, home economics, and leadership skills such as public speaking, essay and art competition,” Griffiths said.

“They also award scholarships and grants for students that do well. I do think that the movement provides a safe haven community for youths and I think we need more of that,” he added.

Beyond that, Griffiths said that the club had served to build his own sense of self.

“One of the big things that the club has done for me is that it gives me the responsibility as Boy of the Year. It allows me to manage my time more as now I have a lot of activities to do and in the process I am trying to maintain a high average in school,” he noted.

After high school, Griffiths said he intends to become a medical doctor. He also wants to write for a scholarship from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) to study agricultural science at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE). The study of medical technology at the University of Technology (UTech) is also on the agenda.

He has encouraged other youths to join the club as it will boost their confidence and provide the training they need.

“There are a lot of youths who are pursuing careers in agriculture and home economics because of the training that they got in the 4-H Clubs. Most of the students, after getting their preliminary training in the 4-H they go on to the HEART Trust/NTA and make a career out of what they learn,” he notes.

Meanwhile, his winning project last year – from which he was able to raise more than $5,000 – focused on baking and selling cakes.

“The aim of my project was to show how youths can make money from 4-H. So that is what I did,” Griffiths said.

The student added that he got into cake-baking by watching and helping his mother.

“My primary school wanted someone to enter the cake baking and decorating competition and I found myself battling out with some young ladies to represent the school,” Griffiths said.

“After a few trials at school, the teacher decided to send me up and after that competition experience, I just became really hooked on the 4-H Clubs,” he added.

Training coordinator for the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Lloyd Robinson, said that youths who wish to enter the Girl and Boy of the Year competition must be involved in other areas of club life.

“By virtue of being involved for about three years, these persons are entitled to come forward from the particular club, eventually emerging into a parish champion and to the national (competition) where all 14 parishes compete and two individuals would have come out of that, the boy and girl of the year,” Robinson said.

Griffiths has, in the interim, given his approval to the recent decision to lower the age limit for membership from nine to five years old.

“Grabbing them (students) from that age will be very useful in securing the future for the 4-H Clubs,” Griffiths said.

In addition to his involvement in the 4-H Clubs, he plays badminton and is a member of the De La Vega City Uprising Club where he counsels children between the ages of nine and 15 years old on issues such as HIV/AIDS, sex, and pregnancy.

Already, the Calabar boy has attained four subjects at the CXC level. He currently studies eight subjects, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Information Technology, History, Mathematics, English Language, and French.