KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Government of Jamaica has secured a US$50 million investment from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to advance climate-resilient agriculture, with targeted support for vulnerable farmers and a strengthened national approach to food security.

The initiative, ADAPT Jamaica: Enhancing Climate Change Resilience of Vulnerable Smallholders in Central Jamaica, is a joint government effort involving the Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining. The programme will be implemented with key technical support from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), and international partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Speaking on Monday, March 30, at a special press briefing, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda, emphasised Jamaica’s proactive approach to climate financing and resilience-building.

“Ultimately, every element of the triple planetary crisis is on full display in Jamaica. The UN Environment Programme lists the triple planetary crisis as pollution, the loss of biodiversity, and climate change, and one could say that Jamaica is on the front lines of each of these challenges. Jamaica, however, does not sit by as a victim that is helpless,” he said.

Minister Samuda highlighted that this project reflects years of strategic engagement and preparation to access international climate funding.

“This project is intending to invest some 50 million US dollars into climate-resilient agriculture. We are also actively pursuing an additional 300 million US dollars of projects that are at varying stages of development. These projects are pursued through other avenues, not solely through the GCF,” he said.

The minister further underscored that a little over US$40 million of this sum is grant financing and is the single largest project that the Government has engaged thus far by way of grant funding.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, framed the initiative as a direct and necessary response to the realities facing Jamaican farmers.

“When we talk about climate change, it can sometimes feel like a big, distant issue. But for our farmers, it is not distant at all. It is happening now,” he said.

He pointed to the severe and compounding impacts of recent extreme weather events on the agricultural sector, including billions of dollars in losses, widespread crop damage, and disruption to livelihoods.

Minister Green said the ADAPT Jamaica programme is designed as a comprehensive intervention to address systemic vulnerabilities within the agricultural sector.

“This project will focus on six central parishes: Clarendon, Manchester, St Ann, St Catherine, St Elizabeth and Trelawny. These areas were selected because they combine high climate exposure, rural poverty, food insecurity, land degradation and limited access to irrigation and financing,” he said.

At the farm level, the programme will introduce practical, climate-smart solutions through model farms and farmer clusters, including solar-powered irrigation systems, reinforced greenhouses, drip irrigation, and water harvesting technologies.

A central pillar of the project is farmer training and capacity building.

Green said approximately 7,800 farmers will be trained in climate-smart agricultural practices, ensuring that knowledge is applied directly in real farming conditions.

Additionally, the initiative will also provide targeted support to 1,000 vulnerable farmers with low-cost resilience solutions, while social protection measures will include cash-for-work programmes benefiting 950 households and conditional cash transfers to 760 women-led households to restore production and strengthen household food security.

The minister highlighted that the project further addresses post-harvest losses through improved storage solutions, including climate-smart cold and dry storage systems, aimed at protecting output and stabilising farmer incomes.

In total, the programme is expected to benefit more than 736,000 Jamaicans, including over 334,000 women, underscoring its national significance.

The ADAPT Jamaica programme represents a major step forward in strengthening Jamaica’s agricultural resilience, safeguarding livelihoods, and advancing food security in the face of increasing climate variability.