Summary report and recommendations

Background

Historically, agriculture has played a dominant role in the economies of the member states of the Caribbean, and particularly in the Eastern Caribbean. In Dominica, for example, agriculture's contribution to GDP was 20.5 percent in 1994 and in many countries it is a main foreign exchange earner and employer of the labour force. However, Caribbean agriculture faces a number of challenges. Foremost among these is globalization, which has resulted in declining fortunes for the banana and sugar industries of most countries. The role that agriculture will be required to play in the future economic development in these countries is now more critical than ever.

A number of regional and sub-regional initiatives are being pursued to ensure that substitute agricultural enterprises make an optimal contribution to the region's economic development. Some of these initiatives include the exploitation of agriculture for food security, for import substitution, to earn foreign exchange for national needs and as a source of revenue for countries with limited fiscal options. Linkages between agriculture and tourism, including eco- and agri-tourism, are also being pursued vigourously.

To address these challenges, the member states of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, have embarked on a Regional Transformation Programme for the agricultural sector, which seeks to address the competitiveness of the sector. At the sub-regional level, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS, has formulated a Strategic Plan of Action to improve the effectiveness of the OECS agricultural Diversification Programme. This plan was approved by the OECS Ministers of Agriculture and has identified land use and land zoning as essential elements of the Diversification Programme. The region also needs to develop mechanisms to identify marginal or idle lands, which can be used in the diversification effort.

The stakeholders in water resources have indicated the need for a co-ordinated approach to the management of this resource for agricultural development. High levels of wastage, inefficient water use in the agricultural sector and pollution of watercourses are growing problems for most countries. Additionally, poor land use and land management practices have entailed degradation of watersheds, forests, farms, aquifers, coastal zones, fisheries and coral reefs, all of which affect the Caribbean environment and its peoples.

With respect to plant nutrient resource management, most farmers apply high levels of inorganic fertilizer to their commercial crops; the rates of application of these fertilizers are based on trials conducted over 30 years ago. Despite declining crop responses to increasing levels of fertilizer, farmers continue to invest large sums of money into this input, thus suffering economic losses and causing pollution of ground and surface waters. There is very little information on the availability of alternative sources of plant nutrients, nor is there a scientific approach to the application of plant nutrients to crops.

The National Environmental Action Plans for the Caribbean countries as well as the stakeholders at several levels in the society have stated the need for a coordinated approach to land, water and plant resource management for agricultural development in the Caribbean Region. In 1998, the first CLAWRENET working group met in St. Lucia and identified a number of priority projects to be developed and implemented. Among these was the collection and dissemination of information on land and water resources as well as promotion of public awareness of natural resources management. This workshop is an initial step in these efforts, bringing together key national representatives involved in land and water resources management, to examine national and regional constraints and to develop national and regional programmes of work.

The meeting was held in two parts (Programme in Annex 3). The first part comprised the presentation of technical papers that will be compiled into a publication on natural resources management in the Caribbean and published by PROCICARIBE. The second part of the meeting, reported in this volume, dealt with the issue of land, water and plant nutrient resources information systems.

Objectives

The overall objective of the Regional Workshop on Land and Water Information Systems in the Caribbean is to formally establish CLAWRENET and to hold technical consultations on land and water resources management and specifically on land and water information systems.

Workshop attendance

Land and Water Resources Specialists from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago attended the meeting, as well as experts and resource persons from several institutions (Annex 4).

Workshop activities

Inaugural Session

Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul, Integrated Natural Resources Management Officer, FAO Subregional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (SLAC), chaired the opening ceremony. There were welcome remarks by the Executive Secretary of PROCICARIBE and the Representative of IICA. The FAO Subregional Representative presented the Welcome Address (Annex 1). The keynote address was presented by Dr. Chandra Madramootoo, Director of the Brace Centre for Water Resources Management of McGill University, Canada (Annex 2).

Technical presentations

Jacques Antoine, Senior Technical Officer, Land Resources, presented an introduction to the AGL Land and Water Gateway. In his presentation, Dr. Antoine indicated that the Land and Water Development Division (AGL) of FAO manages the land and water resources information system and that AGL has developed computer-based systems to analyze data and generate information to support decisions on various land and water issues. The following five (5) tools are used as a means to store and analyze information and generate and disseminate information products for land and water resources management:

1. Database tools
2. Model tools
3. Decision support tools
4. Documents and Publications
5. Multi-media tools.

Details of the information systems can be found at the following internet site: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGL/Aglhomep.htm.

This presentation was followed by a demonstration of the Report on the State of Land and Water Resources by Mr. Sachimine Masui, using the websites for China and the Caribbean as examples. These sites may be viewed at the following internet site: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGL/swlwpnr/swlwpnr.htm.

Mr. Mike Broten, International GIS Consultant, also gave a demonstration of the Bangladesh LRIS, which is used to inventory, archive, display and share spatial information, as well as analyse and model spatial information. It allows for raster (grid) based modeling; provides strong data visualization and analytical tools; has the capacity to simplify complex spatial data processing; and stores data and applications into a common format that can be easily archived and shared.

Mr. Broten's second presentation was on the Internet Map Server Technology.

Demonstrations of computer-based data and information systems

Computer demonstrations were conducted on the structure, content and functions of the FAO LRIS tools, including the AEZ software and databases and the AGL Internet Web site on Land and Water Information Systems. The LRIS for Bangladesh was also demonstrated.

Presentation of country reports on the state of land resources

Country reports on the state of land, water and plant nutrition resources were presented by National Coordinators from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Each participant gave an overview of his or her respective country, the hot spots and bright spots, and the challenges and problems encountered in preparing the report.

Status Reports

Participants were asked to give an assessment of the status of completion of their country reports, to identify the constraints to completion and to estimate the additional time required to present a preliminary report. This status report is presented in Annex 5.

Follow-up and Planning Sessions

In two working sessions on follow-up and planning, participants consulted on the way forward and the programmes of work, both regional and within each country.

Issues and recommendations from the national reports sessions

The following items represent the main issues and recommendations from the national presentations:

• Identification of resource persons. Country representatives indicated that one of the first steps in preparing the reports was the identification of resource persons from the various government and non-government agencies involved in Natural Resources Management. Some representatives stated that they had no authority to convene meetings of the various stakeholders and therefore needed government support to enable them to contact the stakeholders and request information from them.
• Identification and access to data and data sources. Another area of concern, which also resulted from the previous point was the identification and access to data. The participant from Barbados gave the example of a project currently being executed in his country, in which it took almost a year for the Ministry of Agriculture to access GIS information from the Ministry of the Environment. This access was gained only after high level communications between the Ministers concerned and still the base maps were not available.
• Data extraction, preparation and presentation. Some participants indicated that even when the data were available, they were not in a format suitable for the Internet. The data still had to be extracted, analysed and summarised before they could be posted. This required additional time and manpower, which were not available in the Ministries. It was explained that in a number of countries there was no one in the specific Department with the sole responsibility for this activity. Thus this activity was viewed as additional work for which more resources had to be obtained to hire more staff or to pay existing staff overtime to do the work. It was suggested that rather than create an additional post in the various divisions to do this work, participants should identify agencies where data processing and presentation is part of their existing work programme and seek to have the additional land and water resources data included in these work programmes.
• Accuracy and verification of data. Since the data were from various departments and agencies, participants felt that it was the responsibility of the respective department or agency to verify the accuracy of the data. However, since the National CLAWRENET Coordinator had no jurisdiction over the work of the national stakeholders, it was impossible to ensure that the data obtained were of high quality.
• Timing of completion. With the exception of the participant from the British Virgin Islands, all other participants indicated that they had had insufficient time to complete their country reports for the Workshop. This was mainly because of late notification by their respective governments of their designation as National Coordinators and consequently of their responsibility to prepare the report for the meeting .
• Gaining national and regional support. Participants felt that since the report was not part of the national work programme there was no widespread support for it. Additionally, since the Ministries had limited resources, the report was seen as a one-time effort as there was no updating capability within the Ministry. The role of the National CLAWRENET Committee was seen as a key element in addressing this problem as the committee would comprise stakeholders from all the National Organizations involved in LRIS, thus there was a greater possibility of adopting the report as their own.
• Creating awareness at all levels. To get resources to support the various sectors in updating the databases and promoting the work of the network, participants agreed that awareness must be created at all levels, particularly the level of decision-makers.
• wnership: FAO/CARDI/National Agency. The issue of ownership was seen as another key element, which was necessary for the system to be updated on an on-going basis. Participants reiterated that the LWRIS will only be successful if it is included as part of the National Work Programme.
• Hosting of the Report. Participants indicated that although various institutions contributed data for the report, it was important to designate one institution to house it and be responsible for regular updates. In this regard, it was felt that it would be better to use the National Statistical Units rather than create new institutions to "reinvent the wheel".

Workshop recommendations

Recommendations were made for two main areas of work - (i) the Gateway country reports and (ii) the Regional Programme of work.

Country reports

With respect to the country reports, the group recommended that:

• CLAWRENET National Coordinators should be responsible for identifying and compiling information for the reports.
• Existing structures within the region should be used and reports should be incorporated into the work programmes of national institutions to ensure that data are collected on an on-going basis.
• The PROCICARIBE Secretariat should ensure that the Bahamas, Belize, Curacao and the Dominican Republic, which did not attend the meeting, should received a copy of the Gateway Information system and prepare a report.

Definition of the plan of action

• To address the issues raised and collect the necessary information to complete the reports, it was recommended that CLAWRENET National Coordinators develop a work programme including the following steps:
  • Form a National Committee involving representatives from the various stakeholder organizations and a national network to get other persons involved. Each representative should bring to the committee a set of information relevant to his or her area of focus, which could then be loaded onto the system. The National Coordinator would then start loading information already available through their Division or the Ministry. Where maps or data are not available, areas can be left blank and other methods or maps used to illustrate the items.
  • Organize a national workshop to sensitize decision-makers and give a copy of the guidelines and the Gateway template to relevant organizations in the country.
  • Identify related Internet sites within the country and establish links to the CLAWRENET site.
  • Foster shared ownership of the system by hosting available information and having the PROCICARIBE Secretariat liaise with the concerned Division or Ministry.
  • The skeleton of the report should be completed and the first version of the reports for the Caribbean region placed on the Internet by December 2000. Countries should commit to obtain the necessary information to fill gaps and update the report in the future, in collaboration with the CLAWRENET Secretariat, FAO SLAC and AGL.

Regional Programme of Work

• The Workshop recommended that the following projects should form the regional Programme of Work of CLAWRENET:
  1. Development of a Land and Water Management Database
  2. GIS application for the Caribbean region: Utilization of GIS & Natural Resources Management data
  3. Training of Caribbean scientists in Land and Water Resources Management
  4. Watershed and coastal area data collection and processing for decision-making
  5. Pesticide use management in the Caribbean: monitoring of pesticides in waters and soils
  6. Publication of a text book entitled "Land and Water Resources Management for Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Caribbean".
  7. Upgrade meteorological stations in Caribbean countries
  8. Disaster preparedness and mitigation/rehabilitation programme. Issues to address include: land tenure, access, flood forecasting - real time.
• It was further recommended that CLAWRENET should develop a coherent regional programme incorporating these activities and that an integrated approach be followed rather than stand-alone, piecemeal projects, thus avoiding overlapping and duplication. Sources of funding identified so far include the CARICOM/MEXICO agreement and the EU.