Exploring the factors influencing agricultural innovation and adaptive capacity among smallholder farmers in the Caribbean

The need for resilient local food systems to support food security in the Caribbean is a pressing policy and research challenge. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) faces complex social-ecological challenges related to historical legacies of plantation agriculture, small population sizes, geographic isolation, and proneness to natural disasters. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory study into some of the socio-economic, environmental, and institutional factors impacting the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in St. Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana, and we discuss the implications for domestic food security policy and practice. Results point to a range of interrelated factors impacting the innovation capacity of smallholder farmers, including lack of access to finance, markets, and knowledge networks. Compounding these challenges we found low levels of trust and social capital that hinder the potential for collective action among smallholder farmers. Our findings point to an urgent need for innovation policy to focus on building social capital among farmers, and other key actors in the agro-food, potentially through the development of innovation platforms. Ultimately there is a need to establish relationships among actors and institutions to enhance knowledge flows and participatory action to improve food security in CARICOM