Saving the Flock: How World Bank Support is Fortifying Jamaican Farmers

The day before Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica, poultry farmer Mona Lisa moved 1,200 chickens into her house.

“Me and my kids were moving them from the coop to the house,” she recalls. “We had to push all the furniture to one side in the living room.”

For the small farmer from St. Mary, protecting the chickens meant protecting her family’s livelihood. "My chicken business maintains the household solely," Mona Lisa says. The income covers the school fees for her three children, ages 5 to 13, puts food on the table, and keeps the household running.

Mona Lisa is one of the rural female producers supported through the Second Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI II), a World Bank-financed project designed to help Jamaican farmers strengthen their businesses, improve market access, and become more resilient to climate shocks.

The need for such support is significant. Although agriculture contributes around 8 percent of Jamaica’s GDP and employs nearly one in five Jamaicans, small-scale farmers remain highly exposed to weather shocks and other barriers including limited financing, weak storage systems, and inconsistent access to markets.

When REDI II was designed, rural poverty stood at 20.5 percent - nearly nine percentage points higher than urban areas - with women-headed households disproportionately affected.

Implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the US$40 million project supports rural enterprises through matching grants, technical assistance, training, and investment in critical infrastructure. Grants cover essential equipment, storage, processing capacity, and certification needs. The project also delivers hands-on agricultural training through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) field/extension officers.

To date, the project has reached more than 9,000 Jamaicans - supporting over 50 rural enterprises with matching grants to purchase modern equipment, upgrade storage facilities, and strengthen market linkages. Nearly 6,800 participants received training in climate-resilient approaches, from drought-resistant crop varieties and drip irrigation to water harvesting and solar energy.

REDI II also invests in shared infrastructure through rural cooperatives. In St. Mary - Mona Lisa's parish - the project financed the rehabilitation of a multipurpose cold storage facility, giving cooperative members access to storage capacity that no single farmer could afford on their own.

Climate resilience is built into the project's design — to receive a matching grant, enterprises must incorporate climate-resilient practices into their operations. A built-in emergency fund also allows resources to be reallocated quickly when disasters strike.

When Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, the project responded: its timeline was extended to 2027 and funding is being restructured to cover post-hurricane repairs, ensuring farmers who were mid-recovery (from Hurricane Beryl in 2024) when the storm hit are not left behind.

For Mona Lisa, the storm's toll came in the days after it passed. She lost 360 chicks to post-hurricane stress and airborne bacteria, leaving her with 840 surviving birds — a significant blow for a farmer who had built everything herself. The project responded with a feeder, a water trough, and water pans to replace what had been lost or damaged, helping her to stabilize what remained of her stock.

Mona Lisa is already looking ahead to the next step. Her next milestone is completing the on-site slaughterhouse that will allow her to process and sell birds directly to market. She already has the certification and the walls are up, with just the mesh and a covered pit still to finish.

What started with 150 chickens has grown into a poultry business that survived a major hurricane and is finding its footing again.

"I'm a fighter," she says. "I have three kids. Not giving up."