Green Climate Fund approves $50 million for FAO-supported adaptation project in Jamaica

Rome/Songdo, South Korea - The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a $50 million project, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to enhance the climate resilience of vulnerable smallholders in Jamaica.

The project focuses on areas where climate risks and food security challenges are most severe due to an increased frequency of hurricanes, longer droughts and progressively erratic rainfall - hazards that are already lowering yields, increasing food loss, and threatening rural livelihoods nationwide.

Titled ADAPT Jamaica: Enhancing climate change resilience of vulnerable smallholders in Central Jamaica, the project represents the first ever single country climate investment that Jamaica has received from the GCF. The GCF’s grant contribution amounts to over $40 million.

ADAPT Jamaica was approved on Friday, during the forty-fourth meeting of the GCF Board in Songdo, South Korea.

Co-financed by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, the Development Bank of Jamaica, and FAO, the project will reach more than 700,000 beneficiaries (around half of whom are women) across six central parishes in Jamaica that are responsible for roughly 70 percent of the country's domestic food production.

The initiative builds on a previous FAO-led GCF Project Preparation Facility Readiness project that funded critical feasibility studies and site-specific analyses for ADAPT Jamaica.   

"This decision underscores the trust that the GCF and the Government of Jamaica place in FAO’s capacity to deliver solutions to the multiple challenges the country faces,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. 

“Protecting vulnerable farmers and investing in sustainable and resilient agrifood systems is among the smartest choices we can make for climate action that also delivers on the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life - leaving no one behind.”

Floyd Green, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining of Jamaica, said the approval of the ADAPT Jamaica project was both timely and critical for his country.

"Our farmers are on the frontline of climate change, facing more intense droughts, stronger hurricanes and increasing production risks. This investment allows us to move from response to resilience by strengthening infrastructure, expanding access to climate-smart technologies and improving how farmers produce, store and bring food to market. It is a decisive step toward securing Jamaica’s food systems for the future," the minister said.

As co-financiers and co-executing partners, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the Development Bank of Jamaica - both GCF Direct Access Entities - will be instrumental in ensuring the long-term sustainability and country ownership of the project.

Building resilience in the wake of Hurricanes Beryl and Melissa

Jamaica’s agricultural sector contributes roughly 7 percent of GDP and supports about 18 percent of the population. Smallholder farmers mainly cultivate root crops, pulses, vegetables and fruits, often on rain-dependent hillside plots.

Yet, agriculture remains one of the country’s most climate-impacted sectors.

Hurricane Beryl (Category 4), which struck in July 2024, caused agricultural losses exceeding $30 million and affected more than 48,000 farmers. In October 2025, Hurricane Melissa - the first Category 5 hurricane to make direct landfall in Jamaica - inflicted $6–7 billion in damage and destroyed more than 100,000 structures across key agricultural parishes.

Meanwhile, climate projections point to growing risks. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report confirms that tropical cyclones will intensify as global temperatures rise. For Jamaica, this means more frequent and more destructive hurricanes, longer and hotter dry periods, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall.

In addition, unsustainable land-use practices on slopes have contributed to soil erosion, land degradation and pressure on forest margins, increasing deforestation risks and weakening ecosystem resilience.

Food production is further undermined by high post-harvest food loss, estimated at 30–40 percent for many crops. Farmers frequently lose tomatoes, onions and leafy vegetables due to poor post-harvesting and handling practices, lack of temperature-controlled storage and delays in reaching markets.

These impacts are already reducing yields and deepening poverty among smallholder farmers, many of whom rely on rain‑fed production and have limited access to irrigation, finance, technology and climate information.

ADAPT Jamaica seeks to address these challenges by integrating climate-resilient farming practices, improved water and post-harvest systems, strengthened climate information and early‑warning services, and better access to finance and markets.

Through Farmer Field Schools - which will provide training on technologies such as solar-powered irrigation and cold storage, as well as practices including mixed production systems, improved crop varieties, and sustainable soil, water and nutrient management - the project aims to reduce food loss, stabilize farmer incomes, and strengthen resilience across agricultural value chains. In addition, enhanced market and finance linkages will help producers scale and sustain these improvements. Demonstration sites will feature hurricane‑resilient protected agriculture, showcasing reinforced greenhouses and shade houses designed to withstand Category 4–5 storms.

Farmers will also learn how efficient irrigation coupled with water harvesting systems can help manage drought and heat stress while reducing operating costs. The model farms will promote agroforestry and soil conservation practices such as contour planting, mulching and integrating trees into farming systems to stabilize slopes, reduce erosion, restore soil health and protect surrounding ecosystems.

Overall, ADAPT Jamaica represents a critical investment in the country’s long-term food security. It will strengthen climate-resilient farming systems, reduce food losses and help secure a stable food supply in the face of intensifying climate change.