During the last 18 months, “Frost in Brazil; drought in North America; extreme heat in India, Italy, France, and Spain; heavy rain in China, and flooding in South Africa have left damaged or lost crops in their wake.” (CNN, July 2022)

These destructive impacts of climate change will only get more frequent worldwide, making farming systems more unstable. Already they are threatening agricultural production around the globe when roughly 700 million people experience hunger annually. Moreover, small farmers, who attend to 80 per cent of the world’s farms, will need urgent and sustained support if they remain resilient in the face of climate change. (UN Environment Programme, May 2022)

One glance at the US reveals the deteriorating drought in the southern US Plains threatening the region’s wheat crop production. Some farmers in Kansas, the top US wheat-producing state, say they have not received sufficient rain or snow since last October. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, severe drought also covers three-quarters of Oklahoma and more than two-thirds of Texas, both of which are large wheat producers. (Reuters, March 2022)

In addition, the International Community of the Red Cross recently forewarned that severe drought is contributing to a major hunger crisis being experienced within Somalia, Ethiopia, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso in the west. Approximately “346 million people, more than one in four people across Africa, are suffering from ‘alarming’ hunger, and that number will probably rise in the coming months”.

Here, in Jamaica, our farmers also face the severe challenge of drought and other fallouts from climate change’s extreme shock. There was no significant rainfall in some parts of the island for May. It should be a red alert for us all because, under normal circumstances, our local farmers utilise the dry months of January, February, and March for clearing and preparing lands for planting during spring to harvest in July. This inadequate rainfall during May will impact our local food production, likely resulting in low production and food supply shortages, especially for short-term crops.

Winston Simpson, from the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA), says Jamaica no longer experiences regular rainfall seasons, which has been the case for some time. The agency relies on bulletins from the meteorological office for projected rainfall. As a result, farmers have been grappling, demanding more from the agency by requesting one year in advance data on rains to assist with their forecasting for planting and reaping.

The Climate Branch of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica published that in 2021 Jamaica recorded a lower accumulated rainfall of 1,663 mm, which was 88 per cent of the 30-year mean, compared to 2020, which stood at 1,733 mm or 97.7 per cent of the 30-year mean. (Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica, 2021)

A new study by the UN Environment Programme asserts that, “Farmers in Jamaica are especially vulnerable, and in 2020 Jamaica became the first Caribbean country to submit a tougher climate action plan to the UN because of the risks from rising sea levels, drought, and more intense hurricanes.”

The study’s findings showcased the Mount Airy Farmers, who all said, they are “struggling to keep their plots productive amid dwindling rainfall, a by-product of climate change… [and without] water, it makes no sense to plant seeds because they will just die”. (‘In Jamaica, Farmers Struggle to Contend With a Changing Climate’, UN Environment Programme, May 2022)

Likewise, Douglas Castle in St Ann is the leading producer of lettuce, pak choy and other vegetables in the Caribbean. Yet, today its farmers lament that they no longer experience daily long spells of rain, but rather sporadic short rain bursts which are unsatisfactory to sustain ongoing large land crop production.

Let’s follow the Dutch model

In every crisis lies excellent opportunity. But, unfortunately, the pandemic and climate change have exposed the glaring structural weaknesses within our agricultural sector, representing approximately 25 per cent of the output value in our goods-producing industry, 18 per cent of our exports, and 17 per cent of our employed labour force.

RADA says it has been paying close attention to the jolts in agricultural production caused by the lack of water. As such, they are ramping up programmes to assist our farmers in the targeted parishes with the provision of water tank systems and better seeds for priority crops.

Ensuring the future growth of Jamaica’s agricultural sector will require more scientific applications and significant investments in irrigation infrastructure. Fortunately, there are two important irrigation projects underway which give hope. These are Southern Plain Agricultural Development Project and Essex Valley Irrigation Infrastructure Development Programme.

The stated objective of the Essex Valley projection, intended to be completed in June 2023, is valued at $5.16 billion and will assist with the achievement of “food security and the modernisation of the agricultural sector by increasing the area under formal irrigation in St Elizabeth by 50 per cent, and the yield of crops in Essex Valley to a minimum of 90 per cent of their potential yield through the construction of wells; the development of associated agricultural infrastructure in the arable Essex Valley area”.

Meanwhile, the Southern Plain Agricultural Development Project intends to make investments of $2.746 billion, comprising mainly of “irrigation systems on 795 hectares of lands located in Clarendon and St Catherine. Targeted areas are Amity Hall, Bridge Pen, and Parnassus…” (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 2022/2023)

These irrigation programmes are essential and need replication in other farming parishes in light of no steady rain and the fact that many of our farmers continue to utilise outdated water technologies while others have no technology.

The US is the world’s largest exporter of agricultural products and the Netherlands is the second largest. But can such a small country not only feed its population and still have plenty to export to other nations?

The Dutch have mastered harnessing agricultural production yields through science and technology. Skills which they make available to countries globally. Much of the Netherlands begins in the lab at the leading research facility in agri/food technology and innovation, Wageningen University. For example, the university has developed new techniques to grow bananas in Dutch greenhouses using soil composed of coco peat and rock wool that prevents fungus from harming the crops.

The Netherlands also houses the Dairy Campus to research new grazing patterns and develop metrics for dairy farmers in the Netherlands and beyond. (InvestinHolland.com)

As a result of their cutting-edge approaches, this small country is now home to around 5,300 companies in this sector, including 12 of the world’s largest operational agri/food companies, including Cargill, Kraft Heinz, and Mars, to name a few.

In 2021, the Netherlands Government increased its budget for agriculture significantly to euro 2 billion or the equivalent of $356 billion. They aim to implement policy goals for the future development of their farmers through:

(1) structural measures to address nitrogen pollution,

(2) the creation of a national protein strategy,

(3) the implementation of sustainable European agricultural production, and

(4) continued development of a sustainable livestock sector and improved animal welfare. (www.fas.usda.gov)

Our Government has allocated $11.7 billion to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for recurrent expenditure in this financial year. Five per cent of this budget ($552 million or approximately US$3.6 million) will go towards “agricultural research and development”.

By all measures, based on our national agricultural output, our policies and approaches are failing. Consequently, we have poor production yields, no substantial exports, and high prices continue to hit our local market due to inconsistencies in supply and demand.

Now the devastating impact of climate challenges is at our door; the time has come to stop dabbling with this sector by paying it the serious attention it deserves, lest our people starve in the long run.

Lisa Hanna is Member of Parliament for St Ann South Eastern, People’s National Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and foreign trade, and a former Cabinet member.