The Sustainable Livelihood Network Ltd.

With 21.8% of youths unemployed, Jamaica has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the Caribbean(ILO, 2019). This statistics is even more glaring in rural areas, where agriculture is the dominant economic activity. Youths are not attracted to agriculture in its current form and this along with limited alternatives result in a continued cycle of poverty. The average age of farmers in Jamaica is 60-65 years which poses tremendous challenges for this industry which is vital to national food security. The production means are inefficient and destructive to the  environment. This has severe implications for food security, economic development and health and sanitation. Of the 26 watersheds in Jamaica, 4 are in a critical condition. This project seeks to promote sustainable agriculture through reforestation and beekeeping as a nature based alternative livelihood option. Its operation will be technologically driven to maximize the technological skills possessed by youths, ensuring quality and traceability of the products and enable direct connections with local and international markets.

The specific problem being solved in the challenge is the creation of scalable economic opportunities for watershed communities through regenerative agriculture, that is aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems. The Wag Water Watershed encompasses 49 districts and 29 predominantly rural communities with a total population of 80,000. The watershed  is considered one of the 4 watersheds in a critical condition in Jamaica. Unsustainable farming practices in the watershed have had detrimental impacts resulting in land degradation through soil erosion, deforestation, and agrochemical pollution. The entire economy of the watershed and the livelihoods of its rural communities (mainly agriculture and tourism) are tied to and dependent on the Wag Water River. The watershed supplies the domestic water needs for an estimated 600,000 persons in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (The Nature Conservancy, 2017).

The continual dependence on unsustainable agricultural techniques such as  slash and burn have impacted the watershed's ability to adequately provide ecosystem services such as clean potable water for health and sanitation services and critical inputs to the agricultural and tourism  economic activities (The Nature Conservancy, 2017). The potential negative impact resulting from a fall-out of the agriculture and tourism sector is best illustrated in Jamaica's 85% downturn in the economy resulting from COVID-19. 

The proposed solution is the promotion of sustainable land management and agriculture through reforestation & alternative livelihood activities in the watershed community of Albany. This will be achieved through the establishment of a nature-based agricultural activity in the form of an apiary. The planting of fruit trees for their nectar, pollen and fruits will be a major component which will contribute to an increase in the number of acreage under forest and natural biodiversity stock. The project will target existing farmers who currently practice environmentally unsustainable agriculture by helping them to understand and implement land management techniques and practices that support sustainable livelihoods, agriculture, and forestry.  

The apiary will generate employment and income benefitting over 100 farmers in its initial phase while reforesting .05% forest hectares within the watershed. Technological applications will include:                                      1. Rainwater harvesting

2. Solar panels to be installed on the roof of the honey extraction thereby providing a clean source of alternative energy  

3. An Apiary Monitoring and Management Application built on technology  which increases productivity, allows for bio-security tracing and record keeping for industry compliance and connects the farmers to end buyers of the honey and its by-products. It will use Geographic Information System, in-field tools to measure environmental conditions such as rainfall and temperature. These when combined will create an intelligence systems underpinned by data which can help to predict pest and informed decisions 

The project targets farmers, youth and women and women in the community of Albany. High levels of poverty are prevalent within the Wag Water watershed communities including Albany. Levels of educational attainment within area are generally low and most people have only a primary level education (Social Development Commission, 2020).  Women are grossly underrepresented in official agricultural statistics despite being integrally involved in all aspects of the farming process, and encounter challenges in seeking livelihood resources. Farming issues and access to and use of water intersect through gender issues resulting from disparities in power and livelihood opportunities.

Most rural households lack certain basic amenities such as piped water and an earlier study reported that only 53.4% of residents have piped water (USAID, 2002), while exclusive use of water closets (flushable toilets) was reportedly limited to less than 50% of the residents of the basin. Poor road
infrastructure and network inhibit access to certain social amenities. Many communities are located such that access to a drivable road and thus access to schools and health care facilities require crossing a river, and foot bridges are not uncommon. Such basic transport infrastructure is poor or lacking in some communities. In 2015, residents of one community, Chesterfield, lamented the absence of a bridge to cross the river to get to their homes- which allegedly has led to drowning deaths as residents are forced to walk in the river.

A high percentage of the labour force is unemployed or underemployed with respect to formal sector jobs. Generally levels of educational attainment are low and most people have only a primary level education, a common feature of Jamaican farming communities (SDRPD, 2007). The low levels of educational attainment imply that many residents might not be immediately aware of the potential negative impacts of certain anthropogenic activities in the watershed, such as clearing land for farming on steep slopes and careless waste disposal. 

The steep V-sided valleys of the Wag Water Basin render the area susceptible to flash flooding, particularly because of the relatively narrow channel of the river. The prevalence of poverty, poor infrastructure and limited amenities makes rural inhabitants highly susceptibility to the adverse impacts of flooding.

A number of stakeholder meetings were held with the target beneficiaries in the development of the project and visits done to better understand their challenges.SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT BENEFICIARIES OF THE WAG WATER WATERSHED PART OF A WATER FUND FEASIBILITY FOR KINGSTON'S WATER SUPPLY produced by the Nature Consultancy was also reviewed,

The problem being addressed and the solution developed to address it aligns to the Challenges because the problem of watershed degeneration causes it and its supportive ecosystems to be less likely to provide the ecosystem services  on which humans dependent on them for including include the provision of food and water, the regulation of floods, and habitat services such as nutrient recycling, water recycling, soil formation and the provision of habitats for forests and other plant and animal life, among many others.

The proposed solution reverses this by using a participatatory approach within watershed communities, whereby economic and financial incentives are created to support farmers, youth and women sustainable biodiversity and watershed management.

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The business model and technology is innovative within the Jamaican space because it provides a circular production approach and takes into account the full value chain from production to consumption by the customer.  Beekeepers in Jamaica generally operate in a cycle of glut and scarcity because of the lack of informed business decisions and data to guide planning. They are also limited to selling honey and its by-products to locals as they lack traceability and quality assurance required for the export market.  The user friendly app to be developed provides an integrated management system and allows for e-commerce options connecting the business to local and international potential buyers. The application when refined could revolutionize the local beekeeping industry as it will provide a means to connect bee farmers to on-demand indormationrelated to the industry, help them organize their operations around the requirements of the market they hope to tap into and provide a credible source of data for them to conduct analytics which can then guide their operations.

Part-time  - 5 persons currently provide guidance and oversight on the development of the project. 

Workers - Twenty community members who are expected to benefit from the first phase of the project are actively working on the ground to complete preliminary activities.

The organization and its projects is governed by a Board of Directors with over 40 years combined experience in Natural Resource Management, Project and Quality Management Systems, Botany, Business Development, NGO Governance and Supply Chain Management.

The team’s experience spans work with local and international donors to include the United Nations Development Programme, Caribbean Development Bank, Development Bank of Jamaica, the Inter-American Development Bank among others. The team also enjoys a healthy working relationship with key stakeholders at the community and national level which will be instrumental to the mobilization of resources and strengthening of the skillset of the organization’s membership. Two team members are also trained beekeepers Since its inception in November 2020, a Board of Directors and Company Secretary were appointed and a subsidiary business ‘Shiloah’s Beehive’ established and registered to provide alternative agri-business opportunities for communities across Jamaica.

 In February 2021, the organization secured a Technical Voucher from the Development Bank of Jamaica valued at JMD$200,000 and was shortlisted in November 2020 for a beekeeping project to be sponsored by the Direct Assistance Programme administered by the Australian Government. The team is actively involved in training related to Business Development through the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, NGO Governance through the Council of Voluntary Social Services and Apiary Management done by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. There are currently 30 members aged 15 – 45 years who are connected through the organization, with training resources and expertise related to sustainable agriculture.