TWENTY-three-year-old Jermaine Taylor is determined not to let his “disability” define him.

Instead Taylor, who was born with one leg shorter than the other and so is impeded in his walking, is standing out as a budding entrepreneur in his community of August Town, St Andrew.

Taylor, who operates a chicken and pig farm on the bank of the Mona Reservoir’s overflowing gully, told the

Jamaica Observer that, instead of complaining about the high level of unemployment in his community and Jamaica on a whole, he decided to forge his own path.

“In terms of employment, nothing is going on right now. I chose farming instead of going around robbing persons and those negative things,” Taylor told the

Observer last week.

The former Papine High School student said that it was his friend who introduced him to farming two years ago, and he has not looked back.

He started out with only 30 chickens and today the livestock has multipled to 150 chickens and 13 pigs. He now supplies residents and restaurants in the community with pork and chicken meat regularly.

According to Taylor, marketing and negotiating skills play a very critical role in his business.

“Based on orders, every two weeks some restaurants would order 50 pounds, 100 pounds, 200 pounds [of chicken] at a cost of $160 or $180 per pound,” he explained.

“If I go to a restaurant and introduce my business to them, they would ask mi how much mi sell for. I would would give them a price and would bargain from there,” he added.

But Taylor has bigger plans for his business. He wants to expand.

“I am working towards buying a chicken plucker machine. I am not sure how much it will cost but that is my aim right now,” he shared.