Saint Lucia s Sectoral Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan for the Agriculture Sector (Agriculture SASAP) 2018-2028.

This Saint Lucia s Sectoral Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan for the Agriculture Sector (Agriculture SASAP) 2018-2028 is a sectoral policy document at the national level. The overarching goal of the Sectoral Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan for the Agriculture Sector is to overcome the barriers (policy, regulatory, institutional, technical, financial, business and social) to facilitate the adoption and scaling up of climate resilient agriculture best practices and businesses for enhancing food and nutrition security in Saint Lucia under a changing climate. Four major expected outcomes are: 1. Enhanced enabling environment for climate adaptation action in the agriculture sector; 2. Enhanced nutrition, food availability, quality and security through adaptation in the agriculture sector; 3. Strengthened partnerships for scaling up climate resilient agriculture; 4. Built adaptive capacity to climate variability and extremes in the agriculture sector.
According to the Agriculture SASAP, adaptation strategies can make a major contribution to reshaping the future severity of climate change impacts on food production. It is therefore of paramount importance for Saint Lucia to plan and start implementing now, the adaptation actions necessary to build climate-resilient and sustainable agricultural systems that can improve national food security and nutrition in the short and long term. One of the four Outcomes of the Agriculture SASAP is: Enhanced nutrition, food availability, quality and security through adaptation in the agriculture sector. Proposed Strategic objectives include: Promote climate resilient crop production; Promote climate resilient livestock production; etc.
The Agriculture SASAP seeks to make agriculture more productive and sustainable. It consists of 45 adaptation measures deemed critical for building climate resilient agriculture systems in the country. At the same time, efforts can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing carbon stocks in terrestrial systems and enhancing resource use efficiency. Proposed Strategic objectives include: Strengthen resilience and ecosystem services through integrated sustainable land and watershed management; Scale-up water supply side management by improving rainwater harvesting and water storage infrastructure; Scale up water demand side management by improving water and soil conservation best practices; Promote sustainable wastewater management by reducing, reusing and recycling of agrowaste resources; etc.
The Agriculture SASAP seeks to contribute to rural poverty reduction. For instance, two of the prioritised adaptation measures are: to facilitate the development of partnerships for active involvement of the private sector in community climate resilience building (e.g. agriculture insurance); to improve access to the Climate Change Adaptation Financing Facility and other such initiatives designed to assist farmers (and other vulnerable groups) in building climate resilience and addressing climate change.
The Agriculture SASAP promotes to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems. The strategic objectives include: Strengthen research and development in climate resilient agriculture to improve access to climate resilient varieties and local inputs (organic fertiliser and natural pesticides); Forge a strong public private partnership to scale up climate resilient agriculture best practices and businesses; Leverage private sector resources by improving access to resilient financial and business supports and best practices for scaling up crop and livestock production.
The Agriculture SASAP seeks to increase the resilience of livelihoods to impacts caused by climate change. The measures proposed in the Document offer solutions to information, technical, institutional, financial, regulatory and policy limitations hampering adaptation in the sector. Under the Outcome 1. Enhanced enabling environment for climate adaptation action in the agriculture sector, the strategic objectives include: 1. Improve the national legal, regulatory and institutional framework to facilitate climate adaptation in the agriculture sector; 2. Enhance human and institutional capacity for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agriculture-related climate adaptation projects. Under the Outcome 4: Built adaptive capacity to climate variability and extremes in the agriculture sector, the following strategic objectives are proposed: Improve agro-meteorological data monitoring, emergency planning and informed decision-making ; Minimise agriculture-related climate change risks by adopting Ecosystem-based Adaptation solutions; Scale up climate resilient agricultural infrastructure to reduce climate risks.