Program

Rural Development

OverviewProgram DescriptionActivities

Program Description

Jamaican Context

Jamaica’s economy and its natural resource base are inextricably linked and interdependent. Major industries such as tourism, bauxite mining and agriculture have had deleterious effects on Jamaica’s natural resources, on which the country’s continued sustainable economic growth depends. Poor agricultural practices are reducing soil stability. Chemical run-off is affecting not only rivers and streams, but ultimately the coastal waters. In addition, extreme poverty forces residents to eke out a living on marginal lands and fragile ecosystems. Unsustainable agricultural production systems degrade the land even further. Sustained economic growth, therefore, must include a mechanism to address the issues of environmental degradation as a direct consequence of rural poverty.

USAID’s Assistance

USAID recognizes these relationships between effective natural resources management, rural development and sustainable economic growth. Therefore, USAID’s assistance to address Jamaica’s environmental issues will also focus on the socio-economic problems of the rural poor and their impact on natural resources. This emphasis on the economic development needs of the rural poor will be a key new feature of USAID’s environment program.

Expected outcomes of USAID assistance include:

• Improved Management of Ecosystems
  USAID will build on its earlier successes in watershed and coastal zone management by focusing on watershed and land use planning to reduce flooding and losses caused by natural disasters. An integrated water resources management program to improve water quality will also continue. USAID’s assistance will also support best practices for the conservation of biodiversity-rich habitats and will improve management of terrestrial and marine parks and protected areas.
• Institutional Capacity to Manage Natural Assets Increased
  In order to sustain initiatives under USAID’s environment and natural resources assistance, skills and capacity building efforts will target community and national-level personnel in the government and non-government sectors. Assistance will also strengthen the governance mechanisms of civil society organizations and local government working in community environmental management in order to more effectively manage natural resources at the local level. Special attention to strengthening institutions responsible for managing parks and protected areas in Jamaica will be given, including policy and legislation, as well as capacity building for NGO financial and institutional management.
• More Environmentally Sustainable Rural Enterprises
  USAID’s assistance will enhance rural prosperity through new and improved environmentally and economically sustainable rural enterprises in two targeted competitive clusters--tourism and agribusiness. To promote access to financing in targeted poor rural communities USAID will support micro-enterprise credit.

Improved management of ecosystems, increased institutional capacity to manage natural assets, and more environmentally sustainable rural enterprises—all anticipated outcomes of USAID’s environment and natural resources assistance—address the complex inter-relationship between poverty, especially rural poverty, and environmental degradation in Jamaica.