Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Five Farmer Field Schools Being Established in Clarendon
#Kingston, June 1, 2021 – Approximately 100 farmers are expected to benefit directly and another 5,000 indirectly from training to be provided through five Farmer Field Schools being established in the Upper Rio Minho Watershed area of Clarendon.
Work to design and implement the schools is slated to begin in June, following the $21.7 million contract signing on Friday (May 28) at that will see the seven-month project being executed by Isratech Jamaica Limited. The contract was signed by officials of the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change and Isratech during a ceremony at Jamaica House.
Under the contract, Isratech will be responsible for, among other things, liaising with the Rural Agricultural and Development Authority (RADA) to identify suitable farmers for training and farms to be utilised for demonstration purposes; conducting field reconnaissance to select the training sites and prepare a logistics plan; building support for incubation/workdays and capacity development for select groups; and conducting community sensitisation and awareness workshops.
The entity has over 35 years of experience in the agricultural sector, specialising in technologies such as drip irrigation that maximise yields while conserving precious resources.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., explained that the Farmer Field School methodology is a training programme, designed to heighten stakeholder awareness in farming communities. This, he added, with a view to changing behaviour so as to achieve sustainable environmental and farming practices.
“The overarching aim is to empower the farmers by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills which will build resilience to the impacts of climate-related hazards. The farmers will be trained to disseminate their knowledge to other famers in the communities [which is] aimed at improving farming practices,” he said.
Mr. Charles emphasised that the project is critical to the Upper Minho Watershed area, which has been categorised as severely degraded by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) over the years. This categorisation, he indicated, has resulted from unsustainable farming and land use practices as well as the exploitation of minerals, which have had a deleterious impact on the environment in the area.
In his remarks, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Alwin Hales pointed out that the project targets the Bull Head area, which is located within a forest reserve, and is home to approximately 40 mainly farming communities with an estimated population of nearly 70,000 persons.
“The Farmer Field Schools will, in no small measure, increase the ability of the targeted communities to improve their resilience to climate change impacts in terms of water and land management, as well as build institutional capacity and best practices,” he said.
Dr. Hales noted that among the expected outcomes of the initiative are enhanced capacity to protect livelihoods and food security in the communities, and improved local capacity for sustainable management of natural resources and disaster risk reduction in the targeted areas.
For his part, Isratech’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Benjamin Hodara, said his company was grateful for “the opportunity to be a part of this noble initiative.” He noted that empowering farmers by equipping them with the tools and knowledge of proper agronomic practices “is a strong step in the right direction” towards the important goal of building climate resilience in Jamaica.
“We are certain that the completion of the Farmer Field School Programme… will lead to a great improvement in agricultural practices across the island for generations to come,” Mr. Hodara said.
RADA’s Senior Director for Technology, Training and Technical Information, Winston Shaw, said the initiative is important as the Government seeks to continue building farmers’ capacity and resilience against the ever-changing variabilities in climate.
The Farmer Field Schools initiative falls under the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism for the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (AP and FM-PPCR). The programme was developed by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of the country’s Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience with the overall goal of increasing Jamaica’s resilience to climate change.
The AP and FM-PPCR was previously implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and is now being spearheaded by the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change.
Release: JIS
CONTACT: ALECIA SMITH
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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