"Forward Ever, Backward Never": Documenting and (Re)Vitalising Revolutionary Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Grenada

History, culture and politics have shaped the rise and fall of agricultural production in Grenada. During the Grenada Revolution (1979-1983), there was progress in advancing agricultural development in Grenada, with women and youth playing a central role.

Despite the progress made during the Revolution, however, agricultural activity has declined, attributable to a combination of several factors. These include inadequate policy and institutional frameworks that have not recognized and incorporated critical tenets such as gender and agricultural entrepreneurship; a rudimentary market structure locally, as well as the loss of preferential regional and international markets; inadequate numbers of skilled persons in the agricultural sector taken together with the complete absence of gender-responsive training within the sector; the lack of financial support for agricultural activities from almost all sources - government, private and lending; a breakdown in the social networks that support agriculture (e.g. farmers' groups); a grossly under-developed agro-processing industry; and finally, the devastating effects of hurricanes on the island over the last few decades.

Currently, Grenada's development outlook, including its food security and ability provide adequate employment are under threat. A 2017 World Bank Report indicated that Grenada's poverty and unemployment rates at that time were 37.7% and 28.9% respectively, with poverty and unemployment having the greatest impact on youth and women-headed households, especially in rural areas. The report also stated that improving the current socio-economic conditions in Grenada could rest heavily on revitalizing and boosting its agricultural sector, which in turn will have benefits for local livelihoods and the national economy, as well as for improving food and nutrition security. Moreover, it is expected that reenergizing the agriculture sector, especially with crops that are of cultural and traditional importance (e.g. Nutmeg and Cassava), will help to boost national pride and create a greater sense of national cohesion and well-being.

This project is constructed around a growing recognition that both the research basis (knowledge) and capacity to address the systemic agricultural challenges in Grenada are inadequate; and that getting to the heart of the problem rests on an interdisciplinary and multifaceted view into the country's history, culture and environmental exposure-with special emphasis on gender justice and youth empowerment. The project is designed to utilize a suite of complementary methods, tools, and approaches (Photovoice; visual story-telling, arts-based envisioning sessions)--from the Arts and Humanities and the Sciences (Natural and Social)--to undertake its research, build stakeholders' awareness and capacity, and bridge the research-policy divide. Fundamentally, the Action also seeks to establish sustainable partnerships both within Grenada itself and between Grenada and researchers in the UK and other Caribbean countries so as to ensure that the foundation that it will establish can be built upon in future initiatives.

The primary beneficiaries of this Action are agricultural stakeholders in Grenada, namely 1) small-scale farmers, especially women and youths; 2) civil society organisations that have an interest/stake in agriculture; 3) Policy-makers and technical staff in Grenada's Ministry of Agriculture and Land, as well as other associated Ministries and public agencies; and (4 Research institutions in Grenada, across the English-speaking Caribbean, and the UK.

It is also expected that the learning and results of this project could be of benefit to other small island "developing" states, principally other English-speaking Caribbean countries, where the unique combination of approaches and tools utilized could assist in addressing similar agricultural challenges.

Academic Impacts: This project will combine a range of scholarly disciplines, including political economy, Caribbean history, arts and culture, and the natural sciences, to address important policy-related, research questions in Grenada. Its design fully incorporates an investigation of local and traditional practices, and the perspectives of women and youth, which can offer novel solutions, but which have not been well-understood, documented, or given consideration in decision-making in Grenada. The research will also contribute to the current discourse on some of the adaptation strategies to climate change that can help small island states achieve better food and nutrition security and improve prospects for development. This research specifically seeks to build and strengthen partnerships and collaboration between important stakeholders in Grenada (government officials and statutory agricultural boards); relevant regional research institutions in the Caribbean (the University of the West Indies); and UK-based researchers in order to achieve the project's aims and objectives, and to ensure sustainability and deepening of the results produced by the Action. The experience of the UK-based researchers in undertaking similar-type research, and in applying multidisciplinary approaches to build capacity and create an impact in the developing world, will be overlaid onto the knowledge and expertise of local partners and collaborators to bring tremendous benefits for identifying solutions to some of Grenada's persistent agricultural challenges. At a regional scale, this project will help to address important data gaps and needs in the Caribbean Region. Hitherto, most available insights on gender and agricultural development for the Caribbean Region are based on amalgamated datasets for Latin America and the Caribbean. Yet, literature on 'Latin America and the Caribbean' is often comprised of data primarily from Latin American countries, leading to misrepresentations of the Caribbean. Additionally, if information about the Caribbean is directly incorporated into regional and/or international reports, the data presented are often sourced or based upon a few of the larger Caribbean states. This initiative will therefore boost awareness about the local realities and situated challenges of smaller Caribbean islands such as Grenada. Finally, gender-disaggregated data from the Caribbean is largely non-existent for a host of pertinent parameters related to social development, including agriculture. Given that the region currently has an agenda to review gender policies, this research is intended to be an important contribution to the differentiated and place-based empirical research on women, agriculture, and development that has recently begun across the West Indies.

Socio-Economic Impacts: Grenada's poverty and unemployment rates are high, with poverty and unemployment having the greatest impact on youth and women-headed households, especially in rural areas. Given the assertion that improving the current socio-economic conditions in Grenada could rest heavily on revitalising and boosting its agricultural sector, this project is expected to be extremely salient. By offering policy-relevant data and information about options for agricultural development, which are climate sensitive and geared towards achieving better gender equity and youth empowerment, it is hoped that agricultural policy-making in Grenada (principally via the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands) could be strengthened. It is also intended that sustainable livelihood options for marginalised social groups, including women and youth, could be more effectively designed and implemented. It is hoped that the project could elevate citizens' appreciation of the historical and cultural aspects of Grenada's agricultural sector as a means of building social cohesion and national pride. Finally, this research will contribute much-needed archival material on the Grenadian Revolution.