GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Japan has provided US $5 million to help rural women in Guyana and Dominica, particularly those engaged in agriculture, withstand the effects of climate change.
The money will fund a project to strengthen disaster management capacity of women in the two countries, which will be implemented over a three-year period starting in April. It will be administered by the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP).
The agriculture sector in Guyana and Dominica has been increasingly affected by climate change and recurring disasters such as hurricanes, floods and droughts.
Dominica was amongst the hardest hit countries by the devastating hurricanes in 2017. And Guyana has seen floods and droughts particularly in hinterland regions that have disrupted livelihoods of many families.
According to the UNDP, disaster risk reduction is more critical in building resilience of rural communities and the active role of women in agriculture points to the need to strengthen capacities and systems to empower women in disaster management.
And it says the project will help address this in Dominica and Guyana.
“The project aims to reduce vulnerabilities and risks in the agriculture sector by targeting three broad drivers of these problems: gaps in gender analysis, hazard and risk data; limited integration of climate change and disaster risk planning and practices in the agriculture sector; and limited access to appropriate, sustainable finance for vulnerable small farmers and women’s groups,” it explained.
Focus will be placed on pertinent areas such as strengthening community and women’s capacities in applying mitigation and adaptation measures to reduce livelihood vulnerability, strengthening accessibility and availability of preparedness measures (community-based and national Early Warning System), enhancing opportunities for micro-grant mechanisms, and enhancing the adoption of best practices through knowledge exchange between communities and women’s groups.
There will also be exchange of experiences and knowledge between Dominica and Guyana on successful approaches and lessons learned, in particular, inter-country women’s exchange visits. ~ Caribbean360 ~
