Raising Awareness About the Agricultural Impact of Climate Change in the Dominican Republic

By Dr. Gary Linn, F2F Volunteer



In the Dominican Republic, one of the most
productive agricultural areas is the Yaque del Norte river basin. Over the past
decade, hurricanes, floods, mini-tornadoes, strong winds, and now, a strong
drought have impacted banana and other agricultural production in the area.
These farm communities are very vulnerable to the impact of global climate
change (GCC). Irrigation canals that were once full are now depleted, crops are
stressed by extreme heat, and soils are becoming degraded. Long-time
agricultural practices are becoming ineffective and the usually plentiful
fruit, vegetable, and rice production of the region is dropping. For the
present, and possibly for future decades, farmers in the Yaque del Norte river
basin (and other agricultural areas of the Dominican Republic) must rapidly
adopt new climate smart agricultural practices and technologies that mitigate
the effects of climate change and help them adapt their farming to the extreme
weather conditions. However, awareness of the widespread effects of GCC and
measures that can be taken by farmers to effectively deal with it are low.
Unless agricultural producers/ decision-makers comprehend the scope and threat
of climate change in their area, they are unlikely to adopt climate smart
farming practices and technologies that will make them and their rural
communities more resilient.

To raise awareness of GCC among producers, community
leaders, and members of communities in the Yaque del Norte river basin, this
assignment included four multi-hour workshops in Monte Criste, Mao, and
Jarabacoa from July 12-25th. Contacts on the subject of GCC were also made with
farm managers, elected officials, directors and professors of technical schools
and universities, agricultural business leaders and administrators of producers
associations. The workshops were attended by 456 participants, each of whom received
a diploma-sized Certificate of Participation from Farmer-to-Farmer. In the
communities, contacts were made with another 501 individuals. Workshop participants
included agricultural producers, farm managers, agribusiness leaders,
directors, professors and students of technical schools and universities, civil
defense officials, and agricultural technicians. The workshops were hosted by
an agribusiness, Banelino, two banana producers associations, Grupo Banamiel
and Associacion de Pequenos Productores de Santa Cruz, a government project,
Proyecto La Cruz de Manzanillo, a technical college, Escuela Medioambiente and
a university, The Technical University of Santiago – Mao Campus (UTESA).

Discussions with workshop participants following the
PowerPoint presentation on GCC and its impact on the Yaque del Norte watershed
showed increased understanding of GCC and its human causes (emissions) and
international, national, and regional impacts on agriculture, rural
communities, and individuals. Further, at each workshop there were many
requests from producers and other participants for expert assistance with the
future adoption of new agricultural practices and technologies that would help
them mitigate the negative effect of GCC and better adapt their farms and
communities to changing climatic conditions. Although targeted education on GCC
in the Rio Yaque del Norte watershed should be a continuing process, several
key recommendations were made for the people, groups, and organizations that we
assisted; New agricultural practices/technologies which will help mitigate the
effects of GCC and help adapt regional agriculture to climate change must be
disseminated and adopted by producers; Prior to the visits of the Farmer to
Farmer experts, producers who are likely to adopt recommended climate smart
practices/technologies and lead other producers to do the same should be
selected for participation in the workshops/trainings; Following the workshops
and trainings, the participants should discuss the positive and negative
characteristics of the proposed climate smart agricultural practices; Prospective
adopters of the climate smart agricultural technologies and practices should
receive a cost analysis of the recommended practices; Producers adopting the
recommended climate smart agricultural practices should follow up with the
agricultural experts via email and Skype; One year following the workshops/training
on climate smart agricultural practices, producers who participated should be
surveyed with regard to their adoption of the recommended practices.

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