PRESS RELEASE – DESERTIFICATION & DROUGHT DAY 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12 June 2023
PISLM AND CYEN TO HOST WEBINAR DISCUSSION ON WOMEN, LAND, AND SOIL SCIENCE IN THE CARIBBEAN FOR DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT DAY 2023
Georgetown, Guyana – In the Caribbean, the disparity between the number of women owning agricultural land and operating as registered farmers, while not as wide, is consistent with global averages. According to a 2018 FAO report, only 15% of global agricultural landholders are women. In Grenada for example, only 22 percent of registered farmers are women. In Jamaica, the share is 30 percent, which is the highest in the region (FAO, 2019). In its role as the executing agency of the region’s first multi-country initiative to address soil health, the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) wishes to help close this gap.
It is from this standpoint that the PISLM has partnered with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) to host a webinar on Saturday, 17th June, 2023. The theme of the webinar is Building a Healthy Soil Ecosystem for a Sustainable Future. Presenters will focus on highlighting young women’s contributions to the land and soil sectors in the region. This theme encapsulates the contributions of young Caribbean women in the areas of agriculture, innovative production sciences, land management and land tenure. These are topics being investigated and targeted by the PISLM’S CSIDS-SOILCARE project currently underway in eight Caribbean countries.
In 2022, the PISLM and CYEN signed a Memorandum of Understanding under the banner ‘The SOILCARE Youth Initiative’. The purpose of the MOU is to bring recognition to youths working and studying in the realms of agriculture, soil and land management, forestry and other related disciplines. The webinar will not only highlight issues with women and land tenure in the Caribbean but also youth work in the areas of agriculture, land restoration and innovation in resilience solutions. Participants will also suggest ways to address land crises within the context of Caribbean Small Island Developing States, climate change, food security, soil fertility and resilience.
The PISLM’s work in the region involves providing climate resilient and livelihood-based agriculture solutions to tackle the rising costs of food production against the influences of natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, and financial shocks. More importantly, the PISLM is poised to become the premier regional organization that addresses, manages, and provides sustainable solutions to land and soil-based management and productivity issues. The desired outcome of Saturday’s webinar is to jumpstart a regional focus on youth involvement in soil and land issues. This will, in turn, ensure the sustainability of projects and initiatives undertaken in the name of protecting our soils.
This event represents the Caribbean region on the UNCCD’s Desertification and Drought Day Events Around the World 2023 web page. For more information and to register, visit us at pislmsids.org or go directly to the webinar registration page.