Jamaica

Country Profile

Jamaica

Jamaica is located south of Cuba and west of Haiti. It is the largest of the English-speaking islands in the Caribbean, covering a total land area of 11,000 km2 (4,411 mi2). The interior is very mountainous with the Blue Mountain Peak, rising to a height of 2,256 m. The average annual rainfall is 1,000 mm (36 in). Jamaica’s economy is heavily dependent on services, which account for 70% of GDP and the country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite / alumina. The Jamaican economy expanded by some 2.5% in 2006, its best performance in 11 years, as reported by the UNECLAC (2007)[1]. This was driven by the expansion of agriculture at some 15% over previous years, representing one third of the overall economic growth. Agriculture contributed 5.9% to the GDP in 2006. Both banana and coffee experienced significant increases in production. At 6%, agriculture is the lowest contributor to GDP, but it employs 20% of the workforce. Leading commodities include sugar, bananas, coffee, cocoa, citrus, pimento, yams, vegetables, poultry, goats, milk, crustaceans, and molluscs.

CARDI Jamaica Overview

CARDI Jamaica is involved in diverse areas of research and development in support of the Region’s agriculture. These areas include the commodities Sweet Potatoes and Small Ruminants, the thematic areas of Natural Resource Management and Emerging Issues / ‘New Agriculture’. The Jamaica Unit is an important site for the development of the regional sweet potato industry. It is also one of two Units (the other one being Trinidad and Tobago) involved in the development of the regional small ruminant industry. The other areas of activities are soil and water management, undercover/protected agriculture (greenhouse), herbals, organic agriculture, invasive species and climate change.

Work Programme for the Medium Term 2008-2010

Commodity development – Crops

Sweet potatoes

  • Characterise and select sweet potato varieties for different value added products
  • Determine the performance of varieties in various agro-eco zones
  • Evaluate and transfer various trapping and IPM tactics to monitor and manage sweet potato pests
  • Identify and transfer low resource, cost effective post harvest techniques for sweet potato

Soil and water management

  • Identify and transfer sustainable practices for cultivating crops on reclaimed bauxite soils

Commodity development – Livestock

Small ruminants

  • Develop and transfer feed and feeding systems technologies
  • Demonstrate small ruminant value added production
  • Develop and distribute improved breeds
  • Transfer production systems tech-packs to industry stakeholders

Emerging Issues

Undercover / protected agriculture (greenhouse)

  • Validate, demonstrate and transfer commercial feasibility of producing callaloo under shade house
  • Develop ventilation systems for tropical greenhouses

Herbals

  • Determine suitable agronomic practices for the commercial production of selective herbal species

Organics

  • Develop and transfer organic farming systems

Invasive species initiatives

  • Support MoA initiatives to manage invasive species

Climate change

  • Coordinated programmes with climate change and disaster management agencies
  • Determine commodities within the identified land resources that could be competitive

Information systems and services

  • Develop and evaluate a Life Long Learning for Framers (L3F) model suited to Jamaica

Country Highlight Reports

For highlights of work by the CARDI office in Jamaica, Click here

 

CARDI Representative

Mrs Dionne Clarke-Harris

Contact Information

CARDI Jamaica
P.O. Box 113
Mona Campus
Kingston 7
Jamaica.
Phone: (876) 927-1231
Fax: (876) 927-2099
Email: cardi2@cwjamaica.com

Partners and Collaborators


[1] UNECLAC 2007. Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2006-2007, (LC/CAR/L.138)