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Farmers and business owners in Dominica, are set to gain from a new CA$10 million initiative titled the Regional Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems in the Caribbean project. This four-year endeavor, running from 2024 to 2028, will be spearheaded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Other countries that will benefit are Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.<\/p>\n
Initially announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Canada-CARICOM Summit in October 2023, the project, a joint effort between Canada, the FAO, and local government and civil society partners, is designed to enhance the livelihoods of women and youth involved in climate-resilient agricultural value chains in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
It aims to bolster the resilience of Caribbean farmers to climate change while fostering economic growth in the region, by directly benefiting up to 2,500 individuals over its four-and-a-half-year duration. The project will engage over 30 farmer organizations, throughout its implementation. Women will constitute 50 percent, and youth 20 percent of the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
.Funded by Canada, the FAO will collaborate closely with local Ministries of Agriculture, farmer organizations, gender bureaus, research institutions, and community-based agro-processing centers. The goal is to transform and modernize these value chains, ensuring they are market-driven and supported by relevant data, while also promoting public-private sector partnerships. The project will also advocate for the adoption of climate-smart technologies, innovations, and practices among agricultural stakeholders, enabling more data-driven decisions and fostering more inclusive, gender-responsive, climate-resilient value chains.<\/p>\n
During the media launch on June 3, Lilian Chatterjee, High Commissioner of Canada to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, highlighted the significant impact of food and input price inflation, supply chain disruptions, and climate change on the Caribbean, which have worsened existing food insecurity. She emphasized the crucial role of women as agents of change in achieving sustainable and resilient agri-food systems and stressed that empowering women and closing gender gaps in these systems is essential for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n
This new project will complement Canada\u2019s other initiatives to enhance agricultural entrepreneurship and food systems in the region, including the CA$19.8 million Sustainable Agriculture in the Caribbean project and support for Compete Caribbean.<\/p>\n
Dr. Renata Clarke, FAO\u2019s Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean, noted that the organization has been advocating for the use of climate-smart technologies tailored to the region. These technologies aim to improve the efficiency of water, nutrient, and biological control agent use while reducing pesticide reliance.<\/p>\n
She mentioned the integration of cost-effective practices and technologies such as renewable energy for solar irrigation pumps and digital agricultural sensors to enhance overall crop management. Additionally, Anticipatory Action protocols have been introduced to align with national Agriculture Disaster Risk Management and Climate Information Services.<\/p>\n
Although it targets eight Caribbean countries, the project is expected to yield broad regional benefits for all CARICOM Member States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farmers and business owners in Dominica, are set to gain from a new CA$10 million initiative titled the Regional Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems in the Caribbean project. This four-year endeavor, running from 2024 to 2028, will be spearheaded…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":311207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,320,237,22,235,76,9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-charitable-activity-or-foundation","category-climate-change","category-environment","category-homepage-carousel","category-international-relations","category-news","category-regional"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n