GECAFS Research in the Caribbean

Regional Characteristics Many small island states Diverse cultures, environments and food provision systems Great dependence on food imports (~ 80%) Reliance on export crops and tourism to provide revenue Susceptibility to weather extremes Susceptibility to changes in preferential export markets Weak regional-level institutional connectivity Research needed at both “local” and “regional” levels

Priority Policy Goals for CARICOM Food security Enhancing productivity and international competitiveness in agriculture Food safety Rural employment Sustainability of the food/agricultural sector and rural communities How will GEC interact with these goals? GECAFS Research in the Caribbean

Overarching GECAFS Questions for Caribbean Food Systems Theme 1:How will GEC (especially land degradation, variability in rainfall distribution, sea surface temperature, tropical storms and sea-level rise) affect vulnerability of food systems in the Caribbean? Theme 2: What combinations of policy and technical diversification in food harvested and traded for local consumption, in export commodities and in tourism would best provide effective adaptation strategies? Theme 3:What would be the consequences of these combinations on national and regional food provision, local livelihoods and natural resource degradation?

Target:Food systems in resource-poor communities based on fishing and locally-produced food crops Aim: To reduce food system vulnerability at local level Caribbean Food Systems Project Local Level Research Specific Qs: Q1: How would changes in climate variability, water availability and sea-level affect local food systems? Q2: How would national and regional policy instruments best be adjusted to enhance adaptation options? Q3: How would these strategies alter the reliance on imported commodities and affect livelihoods?

Target:Caribbean regional food security Aim:To develop regional-level strategies to reduce the additional complications GEC would bring to regional food security, given changing preferential export markets. Caribbean Food Systems Project Regional Level Research Specific Qs: Q1: How might GEC alter agricultural revenues & destabilise the region’s food system? Q2: To what extent would improving inter- island trade enhance food system resilience? Q3: How would enhanced regional trade impact enhance national economic development & natural resource conservation?

Inventory of relevant national and regional research relevant to GECAFS goals Characterisation of Case Study Food Provision Systems Synthesis & assessment of multiple stresses on Caribbean Food Systems  Overview and Country Reports Prototype Models of Caribbean Food Provision (including Vulnerability & Impacts, Adaptation, Feedbacks) Prototype GECAFS scenarios for Caribbean DSS development Caribbean Research 2005 – 06

REGIONAL Key Questions To what extent might the regional initiatives (e.g. CSME. FAO Food Security, Common Fisheries Policy) provide mechanisms to interact with impacts of GEC on food security in Jamaica, Guyana and Haiti? NATIONAL Jamaica: To what extent would rural food systems be impacted by integrated coastal zone and watershed management to provide a stronger basis for improving the sustainability and profitability of these enterprises in light of increasing impacts of GEC. Haiti: For hillside food systems, what is the balance amongst adapting crops to changed climate and/or enhancing infrastructure for agricultural storage/distribution and/or reforestation on denuded hill slopes that would best increases food system security, stabilize ecosystems and decrease poverty? Guyana: How can diversification and other strategies be developed to offer new livelihood opportunities (including youth & women), buffer the deleterious effects of GEC stresses and minimize environmental degradation in coastal food systems?