Funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Resilience Environment and Agricultural Habits (REACH) project is an initiative that seeks to enhance the capacity of small farmers and their communities to organize and manage agricultural disaster risk management initiatives all in an effort to enhance their resilience to shocks and hazards.

The project is being implemented through a partnership between the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, the Italian International Center on Environmental Monitoring Research Foundation, under the overall coordination of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The FAO’s Disaster Risk Management Specialist, said the Caribbean region is particularly vulnerable to these shocks and hazards and Saint Lucia is no different.

CIMA Research Foundation will be working alongside the other organizations over a 10 month period to implement the project. The permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Barrymore Felicien, said the project directly aligns with work of the Reach Project. The project is a ten-month initiative and will conclude in December 2019.