Chadeene Roett

Agriculturist Chadeene Roett wants to reduce Barbados’ food import bill by enhancing and expanding the ways people consume locally grown products. After receiving her MSc in Agricultural Economics from The UWI, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Chadeene returned to Barbados with a desire to revolutionize the country’s indigenous food market.

Chadeene wants people to “think beyond the basics of farming” to see the potential for agriculture. “There’s a lot of room for growth and development in the sector,” she says, “and there are a lot of people out there with great ideas and businesses already thriving in the space of agriculture.” The St. Joseph native started her business, Valour Tropical Desserts, to introduce consumers to new ways to eat local plants, specifically tubers and fruits. At Valour, she and her husband create a variety of breads, desserts, and pastries made with local ingredients, like cassava and sweet potato, and inspired by local flavours.

In the future, Chadeene wants Valour – and other brands like it – to become household names in Barbados and across the Caribbean. “We live in a region that has a wide variety in the way we prepare food but we’re still heavily dependent on the outside world,” she says. “I want people to enjoy our foods as much as we enjoy imported foods.” She hopes that her work as an activist and entrepreneur contributes to transforming agriculture “into something sustainable so that the next generation can aspire to be agriculturists in whatever form that may be.”

Follower her work on Instagram @valourdesserts