海角大神

Recently, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a聽report聽on the impact of climate change on agriculture in the Caribbean region. The report found that the region is expected to see an increase in the intensity and frequency of droughts due to climate change.聽

The Caribbean region includes seven of the world鈥檚 36 water-stressed countries in the world. Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda are classified by the聽FAO聽as water-scarce because they have less than 1,000 m3聽freshwater resources per capita.

According to the report, one of the main challenges is the low water availability, which affects the agriculture sector and the water resources. The region also experiences a large number of bush fires due to the drought-like conditions.

鈥淒rought ranks as the single most common cause of severe food shortages in developing countries, so this is a key issue for Caribbean food security,鈥� says Deep Ford, FAO Regional Coordinator in the Caribbean.

The FAO Director-General聽Jos茅 Graziano聽da Silva聽explains that extreme weather events can damage the agriculture sector in the island nations because they are becoming stronger and more frequent due to climate change. 鈥淚n few places is the impact of climate change so evident as in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). For SIDS, climate change is not just an urgent issue. It is a question of survival,鈥� says聽Graziano da Silva.

According to the聽Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the region is vulnerable to the negative impact of climate change, even though it contributes less greenhouse gas emissions compared to other areas.

The Inter-American Development Bank says that climate change caused aroundUS$136 billion聽in damages in the region between 1990 and 2008.

鈥淭his means that the Caribbean region can be taken back 20 to 30 years because of the issue of climate change,鈥� says聽Juan M. Cheaz Pelaez, the senior program coordinator for Agricultural Policy and Value Chains at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

Climate events have led to social, economic, and environmental damage, according toCheaz. Droughts can decrease the crop yields and productivity, and affect the health of poultry and livestock.聽聽聽

A recent聽project聽by the University of the West Indies examined the impact of climate change on tomato and cocoa production in Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. Researchers used crop-climate models for tomato and cocoa plants to determine the resilience of聽the crops to heat stress and droughts. The results of the community-level surveys showed that around聽62 percent of farmers聽experienced a significant crop failure during the past ten years, and cocoa farmers indicated that the largest threat was drought in Trinidad and Tobago. 聽

According to聽Cheaz, a single climate event can affect the livelihoods of farmers. As a result, the agriculture sector should be resilient in order to deal with the impact of climate change.聽

Governments should work to develop solutions designed to adapt to climate change, according to聽Jethro Greene, the chief coordinator of the Caribbean Farmers Network.聽Greene聽suggests that climate change will lead to an increase in severe climate events if countries do not develop policies to build resilient communities and promote sustainable agricultural practices in the region.

The report also highlights some of the issues related to drought management, which include limited funding, weak governance, and ineffective coordination of land management.

鈥淭hese can be overcome by strong political will that encourages participation in policy and planning processes by all actors in the social strata, enabling the sustainable development of water supplies to face the upcoming challenges,鈥� says聽Ford. 聽

This story originally appeared on聽Food Tank.