The critical issue of climate financing was one of the main areas of focus as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), through its Subregional Office for the Caribbean (SLC), recently hosted a two-day virtual webinar.
Held over February 27 & 28, the event titled “Adapting Caribbean Food Systems to Climate Change: Challenges, Solutions and Funding Opportunities” saw more than 60 regional stakeholders from relevant Ministries, academia, civil society organizations, CARICOM Secretariat and South-South Cooperation partners coming together.
The webinar was organised under the Mexico-CARICOM-FAO Initiative “Cooperation for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in the Caribbean”, which is also known as the Resilient Caribbean Initiative.
It falls under component 2 of the Initiative, which is aimed at strengthening the technical capacities of CARICOM countries to develop impactful project proposals for submission to funding agencies like the GCF, GEF and AF, as well as supporting the implementation of previously approved projects.
During the webinar participants engaged in various sessions on climate science, climate-smart agriculture and climate finance. These sessions were geared towards promoting awareness of tested climate-responsive tools, practices, and technologies for Caribbean states, as well as forging a regional strategic approach to accessing climate finance for resilient food systems.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Caribbean Dr. Renata Clarke acknowledged some of the challenges currently being faced in the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
She says “our farmers are increasingly grappling with the changing distribution of rainfall and fishers are reporting declining stocks”, adding it was important to recognise the Government of Mexico for its effort and foresight in financing the Resilient Caribbean Initiative, which is committed to building more resilient agrifood systems in the region.
Meanwhile, Programme Manager for Agriculture and Agro-Industry Development with CARICOM Shaun Baugh stressed that the webinar and its wider project, address many of the goals of CARICOM’s 25×25 Agenda, which focuses on reducing the region’s food bill by 25% by 2025.
He further stated the response and approval process of finance for projects is too slow and complicated, calling for “frank conversation with the aim of arriving at a mechanism” that can channel funds to those who need it most in the region in a timely and beneficial manner.
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