Photos: Colombia’s Weaving Hopes contest celebrates African hairstyles
These look dope
These are from 2015 Colombian women remember end of slavery with braids contest
Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events
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Photos: Colombia’s Weaving Hopes contest celebrates African hairstyles
These look dope
These are from 2015 Colombian women remember end of slavery with braids contest
T&T and Guyana lead the Americas in heart-related deaths, study finds
Published on Jul 6, 2017, 12:37 pm AST
By Andy Johnson
Grand Anse, Grenada
TRINIDAD and Tobago is second behind Guyana, among the 34 countries in the Americas for the highest rates of mortality from heart diseases.
And this is said to be the result of unhealthy lifestyles, the contributing factors for which are the consumption of foods high in sugars, salt and fats, lack of physical activity, heavy alcohol consumption and smoking.
This news was presented to reporters at a press conference yesterday, by one member of a team looking at the progress made in the ten years since the Port of Spain declaration, on a special summit which was held to consider what the leaders concluded then was a crisis of non-communicable diseases in the region.
The summit itself had come as a result of a report produced by a team of experts, led by Sir George Alleyne, the outgoing Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, a medical scientist who was the Executive Director of the Pan American Health organisation.
Dr Alafia Samuels, who made the disclosure, is the Head of the Centre for the Study of Chronic Diseases, at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, named to honour Sir George. She said also that with a consumption rate of the equivalent of two soft-drinks a day for each person in the Caribbean, this is the highest of any region in the world.
Among others on the was Dr James Hospedales, Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency, one of the principal agencies treating with the effects of NCD's across the region.
And a report tracking the progress of actions and initiatives coming out of the declaration of war, against NCD's over the last ten years, said little progress was made on decisions to ban the promotion of tobacco products in Caricom countries. It said only Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago took any significant steps to create 100 per cent smoke-free places for citizens.
Caricom heads of government, meeting here at their 38th regular summit, will consider the report and its recommendations when they reconvene this morning.
It said also that from the experience based on action taken, and from studies conducted, “increased taxation on tobacco products is an effective approach to reducing consumption and raising revenue, so long as smuggling is controlled.”
Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Barbados were the countries in which studies were undertaken on this issue.
A plan on “the way forward on this agenda item, calls for the implementation of legislation demanding 100 percent smoke free spaces, labels with sufficiently large and graphic warnings, further increased taxation and banning of tobacco sponsorships.
The plan also calls for increased taxation on alcohol products, to arriving at a proposed 10 per cent reduction in consumption of “harmful use of alcohol.” It said the region should move to standardise the minimum alcohol purchasing and drinking age, and countries should also ban or regulate alcohol marketing and sports sponsorships.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the legal age for the purchase of alcohol and tobacco products has been set at 18.
T&T and Guyana lead the Americas in heart-related deaths, study finds
Published on Jul 6, 2017, 12:37 pm AST
By Andy Johnson
Grand Anse, Grenada
TRINIDAD and Tobago is second behind Guyana, among the 34 countries in the Americas for the highest rates of mortality from heart diseases.
And this is said to be the result of unhealthy lifestyles, the contributing factors for which are the consumption of foods high in sugars, salt and fats, lack of physical activity, heavy alcohol consumption and smoking.
This news was presented to reporters at a press conference yesterday, by one member of a team looking at the progress made in the ten years since the Port of Spain declaration, on a special summit which was held to consider what the leaders concluded then was a crisis of non-communicable diseases in the region.
The summit itself had come as a result of a report produced by a team of experts, led by Sir George Alleyne, the outgoing Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, a medical scientist who was the Executive Director of the Pan American Health organisation.
Dr Alafia Samuels, who made the disclosure, is the Head of the Centre for the Study of Chronic Diseases, at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, named to honour Sir George. She said also that with a consumption rate of the equivalent of two soft-drinks a day for each person in the Caribbean, this is the highest of any region in the world.
Among others on the was Dr James Hospedales, Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency, one of the principal agencies treating with the effects of NCD's across the region.
And a report tracking the progress of actions and initiatives coming out of the declaration of war, against NCD's over the last ten years, said little progress was made on decisions to ban the promotion of tobacco products in Caricom countries. It said only Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago took any significant steps to create 100 per cent smoke-free places for citizens.
Caricom heads of government, meeting here at their 38th regular summit, will consider the report and its recommendations when they reconvene this morning.
It said also that from the experience based on action taken, and from studies conducted, “increased taxation on tobacco products is an effective approach to reducing consumption and raising revenue, so long as smuggling is controlled.”
Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Barbados were the countries in which studies were undertaken on this issue.
A plan on “the way forward on this agenda item, calls for the implementation of legislation demanding 100 percent smoke free spaces, labels with sufficiently large and graphic warnings, further increased taxation and banning of tobacco sponsorships.
The plan also calls for increased taxation on alcohol products, to arriving at a proposed 10 per cent reduction in consumption of “harmful use of alcohol.” It said the region should move to standardise the minimum alcohol purchasing and drinking age, and countries should also ban or regulate alcohol marketing and sports sponsorships.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the legal age for the purchase of alcohol and tobacco products has been set at 18.
T&T and Guyana lead the Americas in heart-related deaths, study finds
Successfully?
Two Decades After Disbanding Its Army, Haiti Recruits for a New One
Two Decades After Disbanding Its Army, Haiti Recruits for a New One
Two Decades After Disbanding Its Army, Haiti Recruits for a New One
Haiti has chance to solidify stability before UN mission’s drawdown, Security Council told
@loyola llothta Your opinion on new president Jovenel Moïse? I'm in the dark about him... Michel Martelly was a fakkit...
UN News - Haiti has chance to solidify stability before UN mission’s drawdown, Security Council told
@loyola llothta Your opinion on new president Jovenel Moïse? I'm in the dark about him... Michel Martelly was a fakkit...
Farming Beyond Drought
CARIBBEAN360 JULY 24, 2017
CARIBBEAN FARMERS HAVE BEEN BATTLING EXTREME DROUGHTS IN RECENT YEARS. A FAO OFFICIAL SAYS DROUGHT RANKS AS THE SINGLE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, MAKING IT A KEY ISSUE FOR CARIBBEAN FOOD SECURITY. (PHOTO CREDIT: DESMOND BROWN/IPS)
By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday July 24, 2017 (IPS) – The Caribbean accounts for seven of the world’s top 36 water-stressed countries and Barbados is in the top ten. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines countries like Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis as water-scarce with less than 1000 m3 freshwater resources per capita.
With droughts becoming more seasonal in nature in the Caribbean, experts say agriculture is the most likely sector to be impacted, with serious economic and social consequences.
This is particularly important since the majority of Caribbean agriculture is rain fed. With irrigation use becoming more widespread in the Caribbean, countries’ fresh-water supply will become increasingly important.
In light of the dilemma faced by the region, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is spearheading a climate smart agriculture project in which 90 farmers from three Caribbean countries, including Barbados, will participate over the next 18 months.
Executive director of the CPDC Gordon Bispham said the aim of the project, in which farmers from Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines are also involved, is to support sustainable livelihoods and reinforce that farming is serious business.
“Farming is not a hobby. It is a business where we can apply specific technology and methodologies, not only to be sustainable, but to be profitable. That is going to be very central to our programme,” Bispham said at the project’s launch last week.
“If we are going to be successful, it means that we are going to have to build partnerships and networks so that we can share the information that we learn from the project. We must not only upscale agriculture in the three countries identified, but bring more countries of the region into the fold,” he said.
According to the FAO, drought can affect the agriculture sector in several ways, by reducing crop yields and productivity, and causing premature death of livestock and poultry. Even a dry spell of 7-10 days can result in a reduction of yields, influencing the livelihoods of farmers.
Farmers, particularly small farmers, are vulnerable to drought as their livelihoods are threatened by low rainfall where crops are rain fed and by low water levels and increased production costs due to increased irrigation, the FAO said.
It notes that livestock grazing areas change in nutritional value, as more low quality, drought tolerant species dominate during extensive droughts, causing the vulnerability of livestock to increase. The potential for livestock diseases also increases.
“Drought ranks as the single most common cause of severe food shortages in developing countries, so this is a key issue for Caribbean food security,” said Deep Ford, Regional Coordinator for FAO in the Caribbean.
He adds that the poor are vulnerable as food price increases are often associated with drought. Expensive, desalinated water resources are also becoming more important in the Caribbean, accounting for as much as 70 percent in Antigua and Barbuda, and this can impact the poor significantly.
The FAO official adds that rural communities are vulnerable since potable water networks are less dense and therefore more heavily impacted during drought, while children are at highest risk from inadequate water supplies during drought.
Bispham said the youth and women would be a focus of the climate smart agriculture project, adding that with their inclusion in the sector, countries can depend on agriculture to make a sizable contribution to their gross domestic product (GDP).
While throwing her support behind the agriculture project, head of the political section and chargé d’affaires of the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Silvia Kofler, highlighted the threat presented by global warning.
“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impact of climate change. It is an all-encompassing threat, and the nature and scale of this global challenge that we are facing demands a concerted action of us all,” she said.
She gave policymakers in Barbados the assurance that the European Union was willing to assist the region in transforming their societies and sectors into smart and sustainable ones, whether in farming or otherwise.
FAO said climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Caribbean, so countries must enhance their capabilities to deal with this and other climate related challenges to ensure food security and hunger eradication.
A new FAO study says the Caribbean faces significant challenges in terms of drought. The region already experiences drought-like events every year, often with low water availability impacting agriculture and water resources, and a significant number of bush fires.
The Caribbean also experiences intense dry seasons, particularly in years with El Niño events. The impacts are usually offset by the next wet season, but wet seasons often end early and dry seasons last longer with the result that annual rainfall is less than expected.
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul said 2016 was an extremely tough year for farmers, as the limited rainfall affected the harvesting and planting of crops.
But he is encouraged by the fact that unlike last year there is no prediction of a prolonged drought for Barbados.
“Rain if still falling on some areas off and on, so that is a good sign. But the good thing is that we haven’t had any warning of a possible drought and we are hoping that it remains that way,” he said.
“With the little rainfall we got last year, farmers had some serious problems so we are definitely hoping for more rain this time around.”
Deputy Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services Sonia Nurse explained that 2016 started with below-normal rainfall levels in the first half of the year. However, by the end of the year, a total of 1,422 mm (55.62 inches), recorded at the Grantley Adams station, was in excess of the 30-year average of 1,270 mm (50.05 inches), while the 2015 total of 789 mm (31.07 inches) fell way below the 30-year average.
“Figures showed that approximately 78 per cent or 1,099.1 mm (43.27 inches) of the total rainfall measured last year was experienced during the wet season (June-November) as opposed to 461 mm (18.15 inches) recorded during the same period of the 2015 wet season.
“However, rainfall data showed that 2015 started out significantly wetter than 2016, with accumulations of over nine inches recorded between January and April as opposed to a mere five inches, which was recorded January to April 2016. A similar rainfall pattern was reported from some of the other stations around the island.”
Farming Beyond Drought
CARIBBEAN360 JULY 24, 2017
CARIBBEAN FARMERS HAVE BEEN BATTLING EXTREME DROUGHTS IN RECENT YEARS. A FAO OFFICIAL SAYS DROUGHT RANKS AS THE SINGLE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, MAKING IT A KEY ISSUE FOR CARIBBEAN FOOD SECURITY. (PHOTO CREDIT: DESMOND BROWN/IPS)
By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday July 24, 2017 (IPS) – The Caribbean accounts for seven of the world’s top 36 water-stressed countries and Barbados is in the top ten. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines countries like Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis as water-scarce with less than 1000 m3 freshwater resources per capita.
With droughts becoming more seasonal in nature in the Caribbean, experts say agriculture is the most likely sector to be impacted, with serious economic and social consequences.
This is particularly important since the majority of Caribbean agriculture is rain fed. With irrigation use becoming more widespread in the Caribbean, countries’ fresh-water supply will become increasingly important.
In light of the dilemma faced by the region, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is spearheading a climate smart agriculture project in which 90 farmers from three Caribbean countries, including Barbados, will participate over the next 18 months.
Executive director of the CPDC Gordon Bispham said the aim of the project, in which farmers from Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines are also involved, is to support sustainable livelihoods and reinforce that farming is serious business.
“Farming is not a hobby. It is a business where we can apply specific technology and methodologies, not only to be sustainable, but to be profitable. That is going to be very central to our programme,” Bispham said at the project’s launch last week.
“If we are going to be successful, it means that we are going to have to build partnerships and networks so that we can share the information that we learn from the project. We must not only upscale agriculture in the three countries identified, but bring more countries of the region into the fold,” he said.
According to the FAO, drought can affect the agriculture sector in several ways, by reducing crop yields and productivity, and causing premature death of livestock and poultry. Even a dry spell of 7-10 days can result in a reduction of yields, influencing the livelihoods of farmers.
Farmers, particularly small farmers, are vulnerable to drought as their livelihoods are threatened by low rainfall where crops are rain fed and by low water levels and increased production costs due to increased irrigation, the FAO said.
It notes that livestock grazing areas change in nutritional value, as more low quality, drought tolerant species dominate during extensive droughts, causing the vulnerability of livestock to increase. The potential for livestock diseases also increases.
“Drought ranks as the single most common cause of severe food shortages in developing countries, so this is a key issue for Caribbean food security,” said Deep Ford, Regional Coordinator for FAO in the Caribbean.
He adds that the poor are vulnerable as food price increases are often associated with drought. Expensive, desalinated water resources are also becoming more important in the Caribbean, accounting for as much as 70 percent in Antigua and Barbuda, and this can impact the poor significantly.
The FAO official adds that rural communities are vulnerable since potable water networks are less dense and therefore more heavily impacted during drought, while children are at highest risk from inadequate water supplies during drought.
Bispham said the youth and women would be a focus of the climate smart agriculture project, adding that with their inclusion in the sector, countries can depend on agriculture to make a sizable contribution to their gross domestic product (GDP).
While throwing her support behind the agriculture project, head of the political section and chargé d’affaires of the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Silvia Kofler, highlighted the threat presented by global warning.
“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impact of climate change. It is an all-encompassing threat, and the nature and scale of this global challenge that we are facing demands a concerted action of us all,” she said.
She gave policymakers in Barbados the assurance that the European Union was willing to assist the region in transforming their societies and sectors into smart and sustainable ones, whether in farming or otherwise.
FAO said climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Caribbean, so countries must enhance their capabilities to deal with this and other climate related challenges to ensure food security and hunger eradication.
A new FAO study says the Caribbean faces significant challenges in terms of drought. The region already experiences drought-like events every year, often with low water availability impacting agriculture and water resources, and a significant number of bush fires.
The Caribbean also experiences intense dry seasons, particularly in years with El Niño events. The impacts are usually offset by the next wet season, but wet seasons often end early and dry seasons last longer with the result that annual rainfall is less than expected.
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul said 2016 was an extremely tough year for farmers, as the limited rainfall affected the harvesting and planting of crops.
But he is encouraged by the fact that unlike last year there is no prediction of a prolonged drought for Barbados.
“Rain if still falling on some areas off and on, so that is a good sign. But the good thing is that we haven’t had any warning of a possible drought and we are hoping that it remains that way,” he said.
“With the little rainfall we got last year, farmers had some serious problems so we are definitely hoping for more rain this time around.”
Deputy Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services Sonia Nurse explained that 2016 started with below-normal rainfall levels in the first half of the year. However, by the end of the year, a total of 1,422 mm (55.62 inches), recorded at the Grantley Adams station, was in excess of the 30-year average of 1,270 mm (50.05 inches), while the 2015 total of 789 mm (31.07 inches) fell way below the 30-year average.
“Figures showed that approximately 78 per cent or 1,099.1 mm (43.27 inches) of the total rainfall measured last year was experienced during the wet season (June-November) as opposed to 461 mm (18.15 inches) recorded during the same period of the 2015 wet season.
“However, rainfall data showed that 2015 started out significantly wetter than 2016, with accumulations of over nine inches recorded between January and April as opposed to a mere five inches, which was recorded January to April 2016. A similar rainfall pattern was reported from some of the other stations around the island.”
Farming Beyond Drought
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
Farming Beyond Drought
CARIBBEAN360 JULY 24, 2017
CARIBBEAN FARMERS HAVE BEEN BATTLING EXTREME DROUGHTS IN RECENT YEARS. A FAO OFFICIAL SAYS DROUGHT RANKS AS THE SINGLE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, MAKING IT A KEY ISSUE FOR CARIBBEAN FOOD SECURITY. (PHOTO CREDIT: DESMOND BROWN/IPS)
By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday July 24, 2017 (IPS) – The Caribbean accounts for seven of the world’s top 36 water-stressed countries and Barbados is in the top ten. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines countries like Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis as water-scarce with less than 1000 m3 freshwater resources per capita.
With droughts becoming more seasonal in nature in the Caribbean, experts say agriculture is the most likely sector to be impacted, with serious economic and social consequences.
This is particularly important since the majority of Caribbean agriculture is rain fed. With irrigation use becoming more widespread in the Caribbean, countries’ fresh-water supply will become increasingly important.
In light of the dilemma faced by the region, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is spearheading a climate smart agriculture project in which 90 farmers from three Caribbean countries, including Barbados, will participate over the next 18 months.
Executive director of the CPDC Gordon Bispham said the aim of the project, in which farmers from Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines are also involved, is to support sustainable livelihoods and reinforce that farming is serious business.
“Farming is not a hobby. It is a business where we can apply specific technology and methodologies, not only to be sustainable, but to be profitable. That is going to be very central to our programme,” Bispham said at the project’s launch last week.
“If we are going to be successful, it means that we are going to have to build partnerships and networks so that we can share the information that we learn from the project. We must not only upscale agriculture in the three countries identified, but bring more countries of the region into the fold,” he said.
According to the FAO, drought can affect the agriculture sector in several ways, by reducing crop yields and productivity, and causing premature death of livestock and poultry. Even a dry spell of 7-10 days can result in a reduction of yields, influencing the livelihoods of farmers.
Farmers, particularly small farmers, are vulnerable to drought as their livelihoods are threatened by low rainfall where crops are rain fed and by low water levels and increased production costs due to increased irrigation, the FAO said.
It notes that livestock grazing areas change in nutritional value, as more low quality, drought tolerant species dominate during extensive droughts, causing the vulnerability of livestock to increase. The potential for livestock diseases also increases.
“Drought ranks as the single most common cause of severe food shortages in developing countries, so this is a key issue for Caribbean food security,” said Deep Ford, Regional Coordinator for FAO in the Caribbean.
He adds that the poor are vulnerable as food price increases are often associated with drought. Expensive, desalinated water resources are also becoming more important in the Caribbean, accounting for as much as 70 percent in Antigua and Barbuda, and this can impact the poor significantly.
The FAO official adds that rural communities are vulnerable since potable water networks are less dense and therefore more heavily impacted during drought, while children are at highest risk from inadequate water supplies during drought.
Bispham said the youth and women would be a focus of the climate smart agriculture project, adding that with their inclusion in the sector, countries can depend on agriculture to make a sizable contribution to their gross domestic product (GDP).
While throwing her support behind the agriculture project, head of the political section and chargé d’affaires of the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Silvia Kofler, highlighted the threat presented by global warning.
“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impact of climate change. It is an all-encompassing threat, and the nature and scale of this global challenge that we are facing demands a concerted action of us all,” she said.
She gave policymakers in Barbados the assurance that the European Union was willing to assist the region in transforming their societies and sectors into smart and sustainable ones, whether in farming or otherwise.
FAO said climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Caribbean, so countries must enhance their capabilities to deal with this and other climate related challenges to ensure food security and hunger eradication.
A new FAO study says the Caribbean faces significant challenges in terms of drought. The region already experiences drought-like events every year, often with low water availability impacting agriculture and water resources, and a significant number of bush fires.
The Caribbean also experiences intense dry seasons, particularly in years with El Niño events. The impacts are usually offset by the next wet season, but wet seasons often end early and dry seasons last longer with the result that annual rainfall is less than expected.
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul said 2016 was an extremely tough year for farmers, as the limited rainfall affected the harvesting and planting of crops.
But he is encouraged by the fact that unlike last year there is no prediction of a prolonged drought for Barbados.
“Rain if still falling on some areas off and on, so that is a good sign. But the good thing is that we haven’t had any warning of a possible drought and we are hoping that it remains that way,” he said.
“With the little rainfall we got last year, farmers had some serious problems so we are definitely hoping for more rain this time around.”
Deputy Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services Sonia Nurse explained that 2016 started with below-normal rainfall levels in the first half of the year. However, by the end of the year, a total of 1,422 mm (55.62 inches), recorded at the Grantley Adams station, was in excess of the 30-year average of 1,270 mm (50.05 inches), while the 2015 total of 789 mm (31.07 inches) fell way below the 30-year average.
“Figures showed that approximately 78 per cent or 1,099.1 mm (43.27 inches) of the total rainfall measured last year was experienced during the wet season (June-November) as opposed to 461 mm (18.15 inches) recorded during the same period of the 2015 wet season.
“However, rainfall data showed that 2015 started out significantly wetter than 2016, with accumulations of over nine inches recorded between January and April as opposed to a mere five inches, which was recorded January to April 2016. A similar rainfall pattern was reported from some of the other stations around the island.”
Farming Beyond Drought
They must move away from rain-fed agriculture. What sorts of irrigation systems would be viable in parts of the Caribbean?
what irrigation systems are available?
keep in mind most of islands are very small with little rivers, sources of freshwater, etc.
i know in Aruba there is a large desalination plant but i believe that is very expensive
http://agricarib.org/images/docs/Re-circulating_Water_and_Water_Harvesting_as_a_Climate_Change_Adaptation_Strategy_for_Horticulture_Production_in_the_Caribbean_(Final).pdf
In Barbados, Mr. Anderson Nicholls owns and cultivates a 22.83 hectare farm in Mount Wilton, St. Thomas. Mount Wilton falls just outside an area known as the Scotland District, which is the highest point of the island at 400 metres above sea level, has soils of volcanic origin that are clayey but with high pH due to calcareous deposits from the volcanic materials and receives the highest amount of annual rainfall with a mean of 2,160 mm. Most of the rain in the region, however, falls only in the wet season from June to December – leaving much of the year prone to drought conditions.
Mr. Nicholls grows sugarcane, plantain, banana and coconut as well as short-term food crops like tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and beans.In the 1980s, he sourced water for his crops from local springs around the farm during the dry seasons. Annually, when these springs ran dry, he transitioned to using expensive, potable, domestic water to irrigate the more highly valued food crops.In the 1990s, a surface pond was built in a watercourse just northwest of the farm. Local springs were cleared so that water could be channelled into the pond; however, the pond had to be abandoned due to continual sedimentation.
In 2004, Mr Nicholls constructed another pond using a heavy duty polyethylene pond liner with an estimated capacity of 17,035 m3. It harvested surface water runoff from upstream areas, and rainwater from the roof of a farm building. Water was channelled into the pond via a 3m x 10m catchment inlet with a boulder filter pack, which reduces the suspended solids in the runoff water before it enters the pond. Sediments that accumulated in the inlet sump were a subsequent benefit of the pond system and were periodically removed and reapplied to the fields.
A total of 2.0 ha are irrigated by this stored water during the dry season. 0.82 ha is drip irrigated (mainly for the tomato crop) and the other crops are sprinkle irrigated. Since the construction of the pond, Mr Nicholls has saved approximately US$4,000 per year in irrigation water cost by not using any potable water. He is also able to have year-round production of food crops, and sustained high yields even under very dry conditions including the drought of 2009 to 2010 when his pond was never dry.
In Jamaica, the Ebanks family has had a long history of over 50 years farming in Flagaman, Southern St. Elizabeth. The area is part of an elevated plateau (approximately 560 m above sea level) consisting of a rolling topography with a red bauxitic soil that is deep and friable and allows for rapid root development but is low in nutrients and fixes elemental Phosphorus. Mean annual rainfall in the area is 1450 mm and as in Barbados this falls mainly in the June to December wet season.
Beginning first with the traditional system of “slash and burn,” the family has gradually developed a reliable water efficient method of food crop production. In the 1960’s water was manually transported from the house tank to the field to fill a 45 gallon (200 litre) drum and then using a watering can applied to the root of every plant in the field. This process was time consuming and laborious.
The process was later enhanced by covering the soil with Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as mulch, reducing the amount of water required for the crop. But the success of the crop still depended on sourcing and applying water. To supplement the limited water collected from rainfall, truck borne water was bought at high prices. But application was still manual.
In 2003, the government of Jamaica introduced gravity drip irrigation to the community, eliminating the laborious manual application of water. But the cost of water was still prohibitive. This necessitated the construction of a water harvesting and storage system to supply water to the farm. The capital cost was high but this paid for itself in a short time compared to buying trucked water. The system consisted of a 243m3 concrete water tank which was filled from the house roof and a 405 m2 concrete catchment area.
Originally, the water from the concrete tank was pumped to the in-field water tank by diesel pump, but with increasing fuel prices this became prohibitive. In 2009, The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Small Scale Irrigation and Rainwater Harvesting Project chose the Ebanks family to demonstrate the use of solar pumps along with the gravity drip system to improve water management and water use efficiency on the farm. The solar pump provided the energy to move the water from the concrete storage tank to two elevated 4.5 m3 plastic tanks to which a drip irrigation system is connected and which serves approximately 0.2 ha of vegetable cultivation.
These innovations have resulted in a more reliable and sustainable crop production system, higher yields, the more efficient use of water and energy, and a better standard of living for the family. They estimate that with this new system of cultivation yields have increased fourfold in the last 50 years. For example, a cantaloupe plot, which yielded about 12,000kg per hectare less than ten years ago, now produces 38,000kg.
Managing scarce water resources for agricultural production in the Caribbean
http://www.iica.int/sites/default/files/publications/files/2016/B4155i.pdf
