Transcript Slide 1

SANREM CRSP
USAID
Sustainable Agriculture
and Natural Resource
Management (SANREM)
Collaborative Research
Support Program
(CRSP)
Office of International
Research, Education
and Development
(OIRED) at Virginia Tech
SANREM CRSP Planning Award Application
Lead Institution:
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida
Title: Caribbean Food Systems Vulnerability to Global
Environmental Change
PI: James W. Jones, Professor, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Department, University of Florida. CO-PIs: Walter Baethgen, Director,
Latin America/Caribbean Program, International Research Institute for
Climate Prediction, Columbia University; Mike Brklacich, Professor,
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton
University, John Ingram, Director, GECAFS International Project Office;
Arvin R. Mosier, Visiting Professor, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Department, University of Florida; Ranjit Singh, Head of Department of
Economics and Extension, The University of the West Indies; Sergio
Sepulveda, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA);
Adrian Trotman, The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Objectives and Approach for a 4-year SANREM
CRSP Project.
The thrust of the research for the SANREM Project
(GECAFS Caribbean Phase II) will characterise the food
systems for three case study countries (Guyana, Haiti, and
Jamaica), and deliver an assessment of GEC and
socioeconomic stresses on these case-study Caribbean
food systems.
Objectives and Approach for a 4-year SANREM CRSP
Project. (Continued)
The characterization and assessment will explore
gender specific issues related to each phase of
each food system. These products will underpin
the development of a prototype decision support
system (DSS) that will be designed to link GEC
and national and regional food systems.
To implement these objectives we will first enlist the aid of
the country-based USAID Mission offices to locate partners
and use GECAFS relations within CARICOM, CARDI, UWI,
CIMH, IICA and IFRPI . Working with these partners, we will
develop a project to:
• identify key food systems and their vulnerabilities,
•develop different scenarios as to the effect of GEC on the
Caribbean single market approach and economy,
•adapt the University of Florida climate risk DSS (Jones et al.
1998; SEC, 2005) to key food systems,
•and integrate the food production DSS with socioeconomic
factors to permit use of DSS to make decisions on adaptation
of food systems.
We expect to use this program for training
systems scientists by engaging Ph.D. level
students, emphasis will be placed on recruiting
female students, from each country in DSS
development, and additional students who will
direct their efforts into scenarios development
and integrating production DSS with
socioeconomic development.
Research will be closely coordinated on a regional basis and
tied to the international GECAFS project within the overall
GECAFS conceptual framework.
Conditions
&
Scenarios
Vulnerability
& Impacts
Current
Food Systems
Feedbacks
Decision
Support
Adaptation
Adapted
Food Systems
Users & Stakeholders
GECAFS-DSS
Approach for region or
country analysis of Food
Systems and GEC
Food System
Assess Vulnerability of FS
Climate Risk DSS
+ Socioeconomic
Assessment
of Adapted FS
Scenarios of GEC & FS
New
FS
GECAFS
DSS
Based on UF Climate DSS
http://www.agclimate.org
Adapted FS
Activities and Products for a 4-year SANREM CRSP Project
Output 1: Standardized characterisation and classification of
food systems for three country case studies (Guyana, Haiti,
and Jamaica).
Activity 1.1: Identify food systems
Activity 1.2: Characterise and quantify natural resources and
socio-economic conditions
Activity 1.3: Document and disseminate findings
Output 2: Initial assessments of vulnerability of the
food systems.
Activity 2.1: Assess vulnerability of the food system
Activity 2.2: Synthesise methodologies and results
of different case studies
Activity 2.3: Document and disseminate findings
Output 3: Analysis of socioeconomic and
environmental tradeoffs of alternative food policy
and technical options at national and regional levels.
Activity 3.1: Construct scenarios for the case study
countries and the region considering the feedbacks
from the global and national food systems
Output 4: Identify and involve users of Decision Support
Systems for analysing socioeconomic and environmental
consequences of alternative policies and GEC in prototype
DSS design.
Activity 4.1: Identify key DSS users and define key
biophysical and socioeconomic variables for DSS inputs and
outputs
Activity 4.2: Develop DSS conceptual framework, and identify
processes and mechanisms for linking the country models
with the regional scenarios of food and water
Activity 4.3: Review and preliminary testing of the DSS in the
case study sites
Activity 4.5: Develop regional-scale DSS
Output 5: Capacity building of regional stakeholders and
scientists through collaborative analysis.
Activity 5.1: Conduct interactive workshops involving policy
advisors and researchers
Activity 5.2: Conduct Demonstration Workshops for the
regional policy makers on DSSs
Users & Stakeholders
GECAFS-DSS
Approach for region or
country analysis of Food
Systems and GEC
Food System
Assess Vulnerability of FS
Climate Risk DSS
+ Socioeconomic
Assessment
of Adapted FS
Scenarios of GEC & FS
New
FS
GECAFS
DSS
Based on UF Climate DSS
http://www.agclimate.org
Adapted FS
Planning Grant Review Comments:
1. This is primarily a policy level analysis with limited scientific
contributions—no hypotheses.
2. Impressive approach to looking at the problem on multiple levels,
combining crop engineering, climatology, soils, economics and other
fields.
3. The research approach seems to assume that food insecurity is due to
extreme weather events. This is certainly one factor, but there are
other major factors, such as political instability.
4. Application seems unfamiliar with the climate risk group work and
didn’t address integration with the socioeconomic side and partner
institutions.
GECAFS/SANREM Partnerships
Caribbean Wide:
CARICOM: Sam Lawrence
CIAT: Eugene Levael
IICA: Sergio Supelveda; Adrian Rodriguez; Errol Berkeley
CIMH: Adrian Trotman
UWI: Ranjit Singh
Cropper Foundation: Angela Cropper
USAID: Chris Kosnik
GECAFS/SANREM Partnerships
Guyana
USAID Mission
Winston Harlequin
Dhanmattie Sohai
IICA
National Agricultural Research Institute
Haiti
USAID Mission
Marc-Eddy Martin
CIAT
Eugene Levael
Quisqueya University
Regine Louis
Luc D. Bretous
Jamaica
USAID Mission
Diane Dormer
Karen McDonald Gayle
Jamaican Agricultural Ministry
Richard Harrison