ALM UNDP

Summary:

##### Summary
The Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) is a five-year global project initiated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Partners include the GEF Small Grants Programme, the Government of Japan, AusAID, the UN Volunteers, and local NGO’s.

The global initiative of the CBA is to help build the resiliency of communities to adverse climate change impacts. A CBA project in Jamaica, “Reducing Erosion and Landslide Risk through Sustainable Agriculture”, is implemented by the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT).

This project is active in the towns of Woodford and Cascade outside Jamaica’s capital city of Kingston. Located within the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Woodford is home to 1,800 residents. The community is found near the mid-reaches of a watershed that is important to Kingston’s water supply. The neighboring community of Cascade is located just outside the National Park and has a population of 800. Most area inhabitants make a living by growing cash crops, primarily bananas and Blue Mountain coffee. Farming on difficult steep slopes, residents often resort to unsustainable agricultural practices such as slash and burn. The productivity of community farms is being reduced by soil degradation, and climate change is likely to exacerbate land damage.