Title: Strengthening Jamaica’s Food Security Programme
Objective:
Jamaica’s agriculture sector has consistently seen a decline in its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, and the Government of Jamaica, through the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) developed a food security strategy in 2008. This project aimed to contribute considerable resources to the implementation of this strategy, and improve agricultural productivity and production for at least 7 000 selected smallholder farmers in Jamaica.
The project, implemented from May 2009 to November 2011, succeeded in providing direct assistance in the form of inputs and/or infrastructure to over 17 800 beneficiaries, including some 7 300 (unplanned) beneficiaries affected by Tropical Storm Nicole in 2010, who were provided with fertilizer thanks to savings realized previously under this project component and owing to an urgent need to provide emergency assistance to affected farmers. Excluding the beneficiaries affected by Tropical Storm Nicole, the project still exceeded its target of 7 000 smallholder beneficiaries by assisting some 10 500 farmers and their households through the provision of quality inputs, improved infrastructure and technical expertise/training in both the crop and livestock sectors.
Assistance in the crop sector was provided through activities promoting backyard gardening; conversion to and promotion of organic farming; increasing land area under crop production through the installation/construction of small-scale irrigation schemes and the distribution of planting materials (roots and tubers), fertilizer, agrochemicals and small machinery; increasing the local supply of quality planting materials through tissue culture propagation and nursery seedling production; and promoting awareness island-wide of the nutritional and economic benefits of producing and consuming Jamaican produce. The project is able to report on significant increases in production as a result of the distribution of fertilizer and planting materials, and the provision of
small-scale irrigation schemes, as well as training in improved agricultural practices to maximize the use of inputs provided through this project.
