A crucial validation workshop was convened on Thursday (March 27) to debate the US$30-million ‘ADAPT Jamaica: Enhancing Local weather Change Resilience of Susceptible Smallholders in Central Jamaica’ Venture.
The occasion was held on the Terra Nova All-Suite Lodge in St. Andrew.
The workshop was hosted by the Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) of the United Nations, in partnership with the Jamaica Social Funding Fund (JSIF); the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining; and the Ministry of Financial Development and Job Creation.
Members included farmers from the six goal parishes – Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Elizabeth, Clarendon, St. Catherine and Manchester – amongst different stakeholders to offer suggestions on the proposal, which shall be introduced to the Inexperienced Local weather Fund (GCF) for consideration on April 8.
Coverage Officer for Setting and Local weather Change on the FAO, Jacinto Buenfil, highlighted the significance of the challenge.
“The concept is that we develop [and] put in place local weather resilient practices, meals loss and waste discount options and applied sciences, [and] we set in place local weather data companies for farmers to have the ability to get early warnings and get higher data to make choices on the sphere,” he knowledgeable.
“We [propose that we] work within the central parishes in Jamaica with weak famers [and] present mannequin farms in order that there are answers that may be introduced, after which we upscale by the funding from the Inexperienced Local weather Fund,” Mr. Buenfil added.
Along with the US$30 million being sought from the GCF, the challenge shall be co-financed by the JSIF, which has pledged US$5.6 million.
It’s slated to run for six years.
Supervisor of Programs Operation and Setting at JSIF, Dr. Milton Clarke, highlighted the entity’s function as a supply companion for the challenge.
“This challenge represents our dedication to constructing resilience by sustainable farming practices, improved water administration, local weather sensible applied sciences and robust partnerships. By equipping farmers with data, sources and instruments to adapt, we’re not solely securing meals manufacturing but additionally strengthening rural economies and defending our pure ecosystem,” he stated.
In the meantime, Director of Venture Monitoring and Analysis within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Ian Chambers, who spoke on behalf of the Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Inexperienced, underscored the challenge’s alignment with the Ministry’s agricultural growth plans.
“[The project] is essential to the Ministry in that it matches snugly into our portfolio for the monetary yr 2025/26 when it comes to our growth initiatives. We have now some new agro-production zones to be rolled out – new agro parks – and a number of the crops that this challenge shall be specializing in, we’re concentrating on them to be applied in these new manufacturing zones and agro-parks,” Mr. Chambers said.
Consequently, he added, “It is rather crucial that we get it proper [meaning getting] all of the planning proper and [getting] our act [together] in such a manner that we are able to have a profitable challenge.”
The goal for implementation of the ADAPT Jamaica challenge is January 2026.
It’s going to concentrate on a number of crops, together with root greens, alliums, cucurbits, and nightshade greens, equivalent to scorching peppers and tomatoes, that are grown in central parishes.
