FAO, Canada, and Jamaica Launch Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture Project

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Government of Canada launched the Gender-responsive Climate-smart Agriculture and Food Systems in the Caribbean (GCAF) project on Thursday January 23, 2025. The launch and national inception workshop officially introduced Jamaica’s role in the regional initiative aimed at strengthening climate resilience, promoting gender equity, and enhancing agricultural value chains across eight Caribbean nations.

The event brought together key stakeholders in government, farmer organizations, development and resource partners, youth agriculture institutions, and civil society groups. The project, funded by the Government of Canada, focuses on empowering youth, women, and producer organizations by addressing gender constraints, and introducing climate-smart technologies and practices to improve livelihoods and food security in the region. The project will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining in Jamaica.

Sub-regional Coordinator for FAO Caribbean, Renata Clarke in her greetings emphasized the importance of regional collaboration and reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to building inclusive, resilient agri-food systems. In his remarks, the FAO Representative ad interim in Jamaica, Alexis Bonte, underscored the project’s focus on inclusivity, stating “we cannot end hunger and poverty without empowering both men and women in agri-food systems. Women and youth often face disproportionate barriers in accessing resources, markets, and opportunities within the agricultural sector. By addressing these gender constraints, this initiative aims to create a more equitable environment where all participants in the value chain can thrive."

The High Commissioner of Canada to Jamaica, Mark Berman, highlighted Canada’s commitment to fostering climate resilience and gender equality in the Caribbean. “We strongly believe that women and youth are powerful agents of change who can actively contribute to achieving sustainable and resilience agri-food systems. 

According the High Commissioner, GCAF Caribbean was recently included in the Canada’s statement of commitment to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty at the G20 Summit last November. “This project will play an important role to support our shared objectives to eliminate hunger and poverty”, he further stated.

Climate-smart technology and Youth Empowerment

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, emphasized Jamaica’s dedication to advancing sustainable agriculture. “We remain committed as a government to create to an  environment that reduces income inequality, that boost gender equality and inclusivity and ensures that our youth have a space to participate in their agricultural enterprise.”

Minister Green highlighted the transformative potential of climate-smart technologies in reshaping agriculture and empowering youth. “This project will help us to infuse climate smart technology. We are working with the FAO to ensure that we are establishing  smart farms using AI to ensure that we can track temperatures; we can have systems that  are fully automated to release irrigation water and that our young people can see new professions in agriculture that are based around programming, that are based around engineering and that are based around ensuring that we are able to build a resilient sector”.

Promoting Gender Inclusivity in Agriculture

During the inception workshop, International Value Chain expert and Project Coordinator, Vermaran Extavour, emphasized the need to engage young men in agriculture, addressing their unique challenges to foster inclusivity. “We have to practise positive masculinity in our promotion. It is really important to recognize the young men that are at risk who are not getting and feeling the confidence to be engaged in productive sectors.

“What I have seen is that they are feeling sidelined. We have an opportunity when we are speaking and hosting the sessions to have engagement with men and women separately so that we understand their issues and find solutions to reduce constraints”, encouraged Extavour.

About the GCAF Project

The Regional Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems in the Caribbean project aims to reach up to 2,500 direct beneficiaries over a four-and-a-half-year period, with women making up 50 percent of the beneficiaries and youth making up 20 percent.

The project will engage more than 30 farmer organizations, including women and youth-led organizations, over the implementation period. The participating countries are Belize, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.

The project’s objectives also specifically align with FAO’s Strategic narrative which guides the transformation of agri-food systems for better production and a better environment. Programme Priority Areas relating to: Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Production; Climate Change Mitigating and Adapted Agri-food Systems and Resilient Agri-food Systems.