Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change and Global Market Developments

As many crops are sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation, agriculture is especially vulnerable to climate events. This may prove critical in tropical regions where most agriculture is in rain-fed systems and climate change may have a potentially large influence on productivity. By adversely affecting food and water resources, climate change thus threatens progress and efforts made in poverty reduction, economic growth, and achievement of further Millennium Development Goals, such as ending hunger on our planet and achieving environmental sustainability. The intensification of food production transformed formerly small-scale traditional systems to modern large-scale monocultures, e.g. in Latin America. However, banana monoculture production by smallholders is also found in many parts of the world, for example in countries such as St Lucia, which is a major banana-producing country in the Caribbean Windward Islands. Mono-cropping farmers increasingly need to deal with the fact that modem intensive agricultural systems which are characterized by increased need for fertilizers and irrigation, i.e. nutrients and water, may become more sensitive to climate change in tern-is of lower productivity, higher vulnerability, and reduced sustainability in the future. Moreover, food systems in developing countries are currently experiencing enormous organizational changes, reflected in the ongoing reorganization of supply chains, ranging from farm to fork. Being at the end of the chain, particularly the small-scale producers have to cope with global consumers' demands, reflected in the necessity to deliver high-quality products on time and at competitive prices. These high requirements can represent a serious barrier to small farmers' participation in higher value chains, e.g. in the Caribbean Island of St Lucia. St. Lucia's farmers therefore need to diversify their production, e.g. by adopting fair trade production standards, and tap new domestic as well as niche markets by means of improved commercialization to sustain food security and poverty reduction endeavors. Considering that small island developing states like St Lucia, where agriculture still represents the backbone of a society increasingly have to face these two global challenges - globalized markets and climate change - and recognize their impacts already today, this paper will explore the future impacts of climate change on the Caribbean region, discuss the potential impacts of climate change for smallholder agriculture in St Lucia, and elaborate on the importance of information, training and capacity building, not only in terms of improved diversification and commercialization of agricultural produce, but also for raising the adaptive capacity of small-scale farmers in St Lucia by providing sustainable adaptation options for farm-level diversification in the light of climate change.