This document provides an initial assessment for improving and introducing innovative weather risk management mechanisms for small farmers in St. Elizabeth and Portland. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and identify weather risk management mechanisms, both new financial instruments as well as possible improvements to public sector policies and programs that provide support to farmers. This includes options for government support in light of natural disasters and introducing financial risk transfer instruments, such as insurance, for addressing systemic weather risks for small farmers in the two parishes.
This pre-feasibility assessment is part of the technical assistance provided by the World Bank under the Non-lending Technical Assistance Program for the Caribbean “Market Based Agriculture Risk
Management in the Caribbean”, which is financed by the European Union’s All ACP Agriculture Commodities Program (AAACP) and the World Bank. The findings and analysis in this report are based largely on work undertaken by the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture of Jamaica during 2009-2010, as well as on interviews with various stakeholders at the national and parish levels, including farmer focus groups.