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Samuel Powell of Gingerland Nevis entered the Civil Service in 1970. He served as a teacher from 1970 — 1980 and taught at the Primary, and Secondary School Levels. In 1980 he was transferred to the Department of Agriculture where he worked as a technician at the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) as the Chief Extension Officer from
1988-2000 and finally as the Director of Agriculture in Nevis from 2000 — 2006. In 2006 he was transferred to the Department of Cooperatives and served as the Director of Co-operatives until he retired in 2008.
At the Department of Agriculture Mr. Powell worked very closely with farmers- In 1990, with the completion of the Four Seasons Resoli the opportunity arose to change crop production from a Production-Led system, where farmers produced crops hoping to get them sold to a Market-Led system where farmers now produced specific crops that were required for a
particular market.
Monthly farmers meetings were held where, among other things, focus was on crop scheduling as well as crop forecasting was done. This Approach enabled farmers to focus more on specific crops and thus make more money from their efforts. The decisions taken and the information generated informed on the amount of specific crops available locally. The Approach to farming was known The Nevis Model. The focus crops included Onion and the production moved from 5,000 lbs per year to 600,000 lbs effecting import substitution for this commodity.
In order to ensure that the approach was successful, Mr Powell had to work with farmers throughout Nevis and assist farmers in making sure that the quality of the crops produced was what the market required. Over time, farmers requested more land to expand their farms to plant more crops and thus make more money.
Mr. Powell was instrumental in moving the Agricultural Open Day activities from Prospect to the Villa in Charlestown. In so doing more producers and businesses are able to showcase their products and create another avenue for the farmers to make money.
As Director of Cooperatives, Mr Powell worked with the existing Co-operative Societies assisting the dormant ones to become functional and the functioning Societies to consolidate and become more progessive.b