With drought conditions expected to worsen as scientists predict higher temperatures and low rainfall, two Jamaican companies have begun implementing measures to secure their agriculture supply chain.

GraceKennedy and JP Farms have informed Jamaica Observer that the drought conditions accompanied by record-high temperatures last year led to them taking steps to protect their crops against the harsh climatic conditions going forward.

In fact, general manager of JP Farms Mario Figueroa said his company began a few years ago taking a “proactive approach” to investing in sustainable measures to help the farm to navigate the new normal.

“Through strategic long-term investments, including the improvement of drainage and irrigation systems and implementation of climate-smart technology, the impact of drought on fruit supply has been minimised ensuring that Jamaicans have access to our fresh fruits year-round,” he told Caribbean Business Report in an e-mailed response.

Moreover, he said that at the beginning of the drought this year, the management team took the decision to update the irrigation equipment, increase irrigation cycles, and implement soil moisture sensors at the Annotto Bay, St Mary-based farm operation.

“Two years ago, we also made the decision to expand certain areas of our farm to act as a buffer against unforeseen weather-related events. This has helped to keep our overall supply as stable as possible to our customers despite the slow development of the fruit in the drought period,” Figueroa continued.

Despite the prolonged periods of drought followed by shorter, concentrated periods of rainfall, JP Farms saw improved volumes in the production of its main crops — pineapples, bananas and plantains — in 2023.

In the meantime, CEO of GraceKennedy Group Don Wehby said the entity’s food processing division had implemented a number of strategies to mitigate the impact of drought. Among them: diversifying farming locations to reduce risk from localised droughts, investing in research and technology to improve yields and water efficiency, adopting water conservation practices, and building resilience in the agricultural sector through financial services.

“We are working closely with the Jamaican Government — the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) in particular — to implement these critical initiatives, to the benefit of farmers and, by extension, all Jamaicans. Together with our partners, GraceKennedy is helping to build resilience against future droughts and helping to improve food security in Jamaica. It’s a win for our farmers, our company, and our country, in keeping with the broader sustainability goals under GraceKennedy’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda,” Wehby informed Caribbean Business Report.

Last year was the hottest year on record globally with June being the hottest month in Jamaica and July 3 being the hottest day on record so far. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said it expects El Nino conditions will continue from March to May this year, and said it had put in place an action and response plan to mitigate the impact on vulnerable people in the countries most at risk.

“By disrupting rainfall and temperature patterns, El Niño may strongly impact agriculture, rural livelihoods and food security. Farmers, pastoralists, fishers and other small-scale producers bear the most direct and immediate impacts of climate shocks,” the FAO outlined.

However, scientists at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, have predicted a 70 per cent probability that large swathes of the globe will experience record-breaking high temperatures this summer due to a combination of El Nino conditions and global warming. The areas likely to be affected include most of Africa, Central and South, America and sections of the US south.

“It’s commonly known that the Earth is warming and El Nino is a warm episode of a natural climate oscillation, so we expect the two to constructively interfere — that El Nino will compound the effects of global warming,” the scientists warned in the academic journal
Geophysical Research Letters.

Long-term predictions like this can help regions prepare for extreme heat events and protect humans, livestock and crops, William Boos, a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley, said.