Drought Situation Wrecking Jamaica’s Agricultural Sector

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica says the agricultural sector has lost nearly one billion dollars (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.002 cents) as a result of the prolonged drought that has hit the island.

Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Robert Pickersgill, in a joint ministerial statement on the effects of the droughts on schools and agriculture, said that 2,190 hectares of crops valued at J$953.3 million had been lost as a result of the drought and that an estimated 18,309 farmers were affected.

“To mitigate the effects of the drought, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has disbursed J$33 million, of which, J$30million has been allocated to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), as well as to Members of Parliament in the most affected areas, to formulate programs to save crops, as well as to increase production in those areas,” Pickersgill said.

He told legislators that the government is undertaking an audit of the available underutilized greenhouse capacity with a view to working with greenhouse farmers to maximize their production.

It will also be utilizing all idle capacity in the aquaculture sector, as well as the full utilization of lands in the agro parks.

Pickersgill said that the drought situation is as a result of the impacts of climate change, adding “this means that we will have to ensure our water and food security in the face of more intense droughts, floods and storms.

“That is why I have consistently championed the case for rainwater harvesting, and have vehemently declared the urgency for us to return to this modality,” he said, adding “in the face of the increasing incidence of drought as one impact of climate change, I urge everyone to remember that with climate change, we must change and to continue to conserve on their use of that ‘life giving liquid’… water.”

Pickersgill said that with school about to open for the new academic term, the Ministry of Education had drawn up a comprehensive list that shows nearly 200 schools island wide, “especially those in the areas severely impacted by the drought, could be affected, by the reduced water supplies, and in particular, those schools that receive water from the National Water Commission (NWC’s) main pipelines”.

He said, “this is exacerbated by the fact that the majority of the schools listed do not currently have adequate storage capacity,” but gave the assurance that the NWC and other stakeholders would be doing their utmost to supply water to the affected schools, “so that the new school term will commence as smoothly as possible.

“For those schools that currently do not have adequate storage capacity, the Local Government Ministry has given the assurance that it will assist as much as possible, in providing those institutions with water,” Pickersgill said, noting that the Local Government and Community Development Minister, Noel Arscott, has already contacted the mayors in those areas most severely affected by the drought, to ensure that the Parish Councillors are in touch with the principals of the schools in their respective divisions.

Pickersgill said that while the hospitals and health centres were receiving water supplies, they have still been placed “on the priority list for trucking should the need arise”.