FAO, Mexico to assist Caribbean countries with climate resilient agriculture

Landscape, Barbados. Image: OakleyOriginals
Agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the government of Mexico have established a fund to help fourteen Caribbean countries leverage additional financial support to make their agricultural systems more climate resilient:

Fourteen countries from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed to boost their resilience and adaptation of agriculture, food systems and rural communities faced with climate change. In order to secure funds from international organizations to implement their plans, they’ve also agreed to design a series of rural agricultural projects capable of withstanding increased tropical storms, including hurricanes.

The planned projects come amid a new fund established by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, along with the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, or Amexcid.

Signed by FAO’s General Director, Jose Graziano da Silva, and Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Videgaray, the fund is slated to have an initial budget amounting to US$500,000, according to the Jamaica Observer. Each party will contribute an equal amount, US$250,000, to the fund.

The plan is that the initial investment serves as encouragement to mobilize millions more for the project.

“We already have the good news that the government of Canada is going to come on board with resources. And this is key because the challenge is enormous. We must recognize that the Caribbean is not generating climate change but that it is one of the most affected regions, so we all have the responsibility to contribute, ” Videgaray said.

Graziano da Silva expressed gratitude to the “support of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation.” As a result, “14 Caricom countries will design 27 projects to mobilize resources against climate change.”

Videgaray, for his part, explained “we all know that the Caribbean is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. We saw it in the last hurricane season when the islands of Dominica and Barbuda were practically destroyed.”

The CARICOM member states that will develop resilience and adaptation projects are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Source: TeleSur.

[Image: OakleyOriginals]

No Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Bridge damaged by flooding, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Image: CIF Action
Climate Change
OECS/GIZ photo contest: human mobility in the context of climate change

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) have launched a photo competition on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change. The contest seeks to inspire the creation and dissemination of images that explore the impact of climate change on the lives of Caribbean …

Dasheen farmer, Dominica. Image: scottmontreal
Agriculture
World Bank continues to support post-hurricane livelihoods recovery for Dominica’s farmers

The World Bank continues to support action to restore livelihoods in Dominica’s agricultural sector, post Hurricane-Maria. Via Dominica News Online: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved US$16.4 million in additional financing for Dominica to support ongoing projects in the areas of agriculture and infrastructure for climate resilience and economic recovery …

Greenhouse. Image: Jennifer C.
Agriculture
Climate-resilient greenhouse agriculture in the Caribbean

Writing for Forbes, Daphne Ewing-Chow profiles Alquimi Renewables LLC, a company working to address the Caribbean’s food insecurity through climate-resilient protected agriculture: Alquimi’s mission is for Caribbean farms to expand considerably in scale and diversity to the point at which they can augment local farming of indigenous crops and eventually …