ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, DECEMBER 17, 2025 – The Executive Director of the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM), Dr. Ronen C.A. Francis, together with Mr. Trevor Thompson, Project Manager for the CSIDS SOILCARE Project (Phase I), paid a courtesy visit to Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government and Community Development, the Hon. Desmond McKenzie; the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Marsha Henry-Martin; and the Senior Director of Hazard Mitigation, Mr. Patrick Watson, on Monday, December 8, 2025. Discussions focused on ongoing recovery efforts, SOILCARE Project Implementation support, prioritizing project activities to speed up implementation, and strategies to strengthen drought resilience across Jamaica. Mr. Reginald Burke, Executive Coordinator of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), was also present, representing the Global Water Partnership–Caribbean (GWP-C), underscoring PISLM’s support of collaborative engagement of national, regional, and civil society partners in advancing sustainable land management and climate resilience initiatives in the Caribbean.
During the engagement, PISLM discussed additional support mechanisms to strengthen recovery efforts at the Holland Estate and the Lowe River intervention sites, two land degradation hotspots identified under Jamaica’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target Setting Programme, which were severely impacted by the passage of Hurricane Melissa. These intervention sites are incorporated within the field-level implementation activities of the CSIDS SOILCARE Phase One and Phase Two Project.
Further discussions addressed ministerial decisions related to SOILCARE Phase II, the Caribbean Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Transformative Project, the Caribbean Drought Initiative, and the Caribbean Sand and Dust Storms Initiative, all of which were endorsed at the June 2025 Ministerial Forum held in Grenada. Minister McKenzie underscored the persistent concerns regarding the increasing severity of drought conditions during the dry season and their implications for Jamaica’s water security. Emphasis was placed on the vulnerability of Kingston’s water supply, driven by limited and inadequate water harvesting and storage infrastructure within the capital, as well as the compounding impacts of agricultural drought during extended dry periods, which place additional strain on both urban and rural water systems.
PISLM reaffirmed its continued commitment to supporting farmers and to collaborating closely with national authorities and regional partners to collectively address the increasing challenges associated with drought and climate variability.
