During the second term of the 2024/2025 Academic Year, Cari-Bois partnered with the Scotiabank Foundation to empower ten (10) students with climate journalism skills as part of the third edition of Cari-Bois’ Youth Journalism Project. For their first assignment, students wrote an article about the effects of climate change on agriculture. This story was written by Jade Gonowrie of Brazil Secondary School.
When talking about climate change on a broad level, one can say that climate change affects food production, access to food, and the quality of food.
But on a more specific level, climate change affects the seasons in which crops grow and if food production is disrupted, it can result in high food prices.
When farmers harvest their crops, even the flavour of the produce and its nutritional value can change if it was grown in conditions with extremely warm temperatures or saturated soils depending on the crops.
As a result, farmers may find it difficult to sell their produce and see a reduction in their profits.
To avoid the effects of incredibly frequent extreme weather, some farmers are starting to adapt their farming activities by moving towards building a greenhouse to protect their plants from high temperatures or excessive rainfall.
Growing plants in a greenhouse may also protect any supplemental nutrients added to crops that are now quickly washed away especially in prolonged periods of rain.
With Trinidad and Tobago experiencing warmer temperatures in recent years, and harsh drought conditions at unconventional times like the August 2023 heat wave, some farmers have drip systems throughout their fields.
These drip systems make it easier for their plants to absorb the water and nutrients as well as reduce the chance of the water being evaporated quickly by the heat.
The story of one Talparo farmer
A farmer for 15 years, Denisia Benny Gonowrie grows pak choi, dasheen, citrus, coconuts, corn, pumpkin, sorrel, cocoa and a variety of short term crops.
However, in the past several years, Gonowrie has increased her fertilizer use in an attempt to get production rates up to those in her earlier years of farming.
With frequent droughts and warmer days, she has also built troughs covered with greenhouse mesh to help reduce the rate at which the water used to water the plant is evaporating and protect the plants from the sun.
While effective, she admits the throughs and mesh has been yet another additional cost in an increasing amount of costs to deal with changes in growing and environmental conditions.
Apart from her crops, Gonowrie also rears chickens, sheep and cows.
In her earlier farming years, she would allow these animals to graze freely on pasture-lands but in recent years, she has changed the hours the animals are allowed to feed due to the warm temperatures.
Due to this, Gonowrie now buys feed like corn and rice for her animals which has raised the cost to rear these animals.
On estimate, Gonowrie said yields were 15 percent higher when she started farming fifteen years ago.
Climate change has made farming more difficult and a whole-of-society approach is needed to assist them in becoming more climate-resilient.
A very special thank you to the Scotiabank Foundation for supporting the development of young people through initiatives like the Cari-Bois Youth Journalism Project.
