KINGSTON, Jamaica – CCRIF, through its Small Grants Programme, provided US$25,000 to the Papine High School in Jamaica for their Greenhouse and Hydroponics Project. The grant from CCRIF supported the construction of a greenhouse and hydroponics system at the school. The greenhouse is seen as a boost to the school, serving as a practical learning resource to support students who are studying agriculture as part of the high school curriculum.
The greenhouse includes a ventilation system, cooling system, irrigation system, and hydroponics system, as well as planting beds and an electric water distribution system. Crops currently being grown in the greenhouse are lettuce, pak choy, strawberries, basil, cabbage (purple and green) and tomatoes. The school expects to use the produce from the greenhouse to provide nourishing meals to students and to supply the extra produce to business establishments and members of the Papine community. Papine High School and CCRIF hosted a ceremony to formally open the greenhouse in early February.
The principal of Papine High School, Leighton Christie, indicated that the greenhouse would also serve as a learning resource and environment for other schools nearby where students are taking agriculture-related courses. Speakers at the opening ceremony included: Fayval Williams, member of parliament for the St Andrew Eastern Constituency and minister of finance and the public service; Floyd Green, minister of agriculture, fisheries and mining; Dr Noel Watson, chairman of the Papine High School Board; Saundra Bailey, deputy chairperson of CCRIF SPC; and Mariame McIntosh Robinson, board member, CCRIF and chairperson of the CCRIF Technical Assistance Committee.
Bailey encouraged the students in attendance to learn more about the digitalization of the agriculture sector and gave them a charge, saying “immerse yourself in ways in which you can contribute to food and nutrition security in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean and further afield, by engaging in all aspects of the agriculture value chain and focusing on innovation in agriculture. I encourage you, as our leaders of tomorrow, to grasp the many opportunities that you can realize by pursuing a career in the agriculture sector or becoming innovative “agripreneurs” (or entrepreneurs focussed on agriculture), advancing Jamaica’s and in indeed the Caribbean’s development prospects.”
CCRIF is the Caribbean and Central America Parametric Insurance Facility and Development Insurer. CCRIF provides parametric insurance coverage for tropical cyclones (that is, tropical storms and hurricanes), earthquakes, excess rainfall, and for the fisheries sector and the electric and water utility sectors. CCRIF has 30 members – 19 Caribbean governments including the government of Jamaica, four Central American governments three electric utility companies, three water utility companies and one government-owned tourist attraction.
As an insurance company, CCRIF must focus its operations to ensure that it is financially sustainable and can honour payouts when members’ policies are triggered. Since its inception in 2007, CCRIF has made 78 payouts totalling US$390 million. All CCRIF’s payouts are made within 14 days of the event, providing its members with quick liquidity to begin recovery efforts and support persons most impacted by the event or disaster.
In 2024, following Hurricane Beryl, CCRIF made ten payouts totalling US$84.5 million to the governments of Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, and the water and electric utility companies in Grenada as well as the Cayman Islands Turtle Conservation Centre. As a development insurer, CCRIF ensures that it provides its members with the insurance coverage they need at the most affordable price.
Profits made by CCRIF go directly into benefitting its members in several ways, including providing discounts to members on their insurance policies and investing in a technical assistance programme which has several components, including the provision of scholarships and internships to Caribbean nationals, and a small grants programme among other areas. CCRIF vice chairperson, Saundra Bailey, indicated that the Technical Assistance Programme represented, “one of the ways we [CCRIF] have been giving back or paying forward to our members”.
Several students and teachers from Papine High and other schools in Kingston attended the event. Representatives from government ministries and agencies – including the ministry of education, youth and information and the rural agricultural development authority – and members of the business community in Papine also attended the event.
Since 2012, CCRIF has provided grants for 39 projects to NGOs, CBOs, universities, and schools across the Caribbean that have implemented projects that are aligned with the CCRIF mandate. The total investment to date in the Small Grants Programme is US$3.9 million. Under the Small Grants Programme, CCRIF provides grants between US$5,000 and US$25,000 to support projects in areas such as ecosystem rehabilitation, climate change adaptation, food security, disaster risk reduction, access to water, and other areas related to disaster risk management and environmental management.
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