Climate Exchange

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griculture

Climate services information system

CAMI recognized that developing information must be followed

by dissemination. In collaboration with its national partners, it

produces a regional bulletin for farmers, with the information and

interpretations highlighted earlier at a regional level. However,

CIMH has been working with the NMSs and agricultural extension

services, from Antigua and Barbuda for example, to develop their

own national bulletins.

Some countries have already launched

their bulletins while others are in the process of launching theirs.

Through feedback from users, and in particular the formation of

tripartite committees in the pilot states, the aim is to make this

product more relevant by focusing on particular needs, and making

the language more farmer-friendly. In collaboration with the

Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation, CAMI has

been investigating the potential use of other media for dissemina-

tion of information, particularly using more modern technology

such as mobile phones. Some consideration is also being given to

using smartphone applications. Through the bulletins, tripartite

committees and regional forums, CAMI has caught the attention

of agricultural decision-makers in the region. In some countries,

there have been requests for similar agro-meteorological training

for agriculture extension services.

User interface system

After a recommendation from its mid-term evaluation, CAMI has

been forming tripartite (NMS, extension services and farmers groups

as core) committees to expand and sustain the activity of the project

once it is finished. This is essentially a stakeholder committee and

has the capacity to act as an interface between the product develop-

ers and users. CAMI also established an online forum to enhance

discussion and feedback, and to ensure they are continuous. There is

now the need to link these separate entities into one comprehensive

user interface system. Further, some countries have been includ-

ing the CAMI initiatives, outputs and recommendations in disaster

risk reduction strategies for agriculture. Jamaica, for example, is

committed to a recommendation to its cabinet that its CAMI tripar-

tite committee be a part of a disaster risk reduction committee

recommended for agriculture.

Outputs and outcomes

Certainly, the region has to go well beyond what the

three-year CAMI project provides in order to make the

comprehensive impact in agriculture that the mete-

orological services and research institutions seek. The

project itself reveals many gaps that need addressing in

the follow-up from CAMI, including:

• Higher resolution and timely climate information

and forecasts, requiring a denser network of

meteorological instruments and greater allocation of

resources to cover the many agro-climatic zones

• A communication strategy for dissemination of

weather and climate information for agriculture (the

development process has begun, but needs to be

continued

• NMS staff dedicated to agro-climatology, rather than

having this as part of their day-to-day duties

• Further training of agriculture extension services

staff in agro-meteorology

• Enhancement of biological and general agricultural data

collection and recording (this has limited the impact of

pests and diseases and crop simulation activity)

• National disaster risk reduction committees in

agriculture (the tripartite committees formed

through CAMI or an enhanced version of these)

ratified by government and reporting to government.

Certainly, the list is not exhaustive, but it identifies

needs that often arise or are strongly recommended.

The fact that there is an activity that identified such

gaps, heightened the awareness of weather, climate

and climate change issues in agriculture, began the

provision of information specifically for the industry

and has influenced agricultural policy-making in the

region suggests that CAMI was well worth it, but needs

to move even further. The region looks forward to the

continued collaboration of all stakeholders in an indus-

try that has served the region for centuries.

Agriculture in the Caribbean