Answering the effects of climate change with organic coconuts: Farmers in the Dominican Republic have found a smart solution to respond sensitively to natural disasters--and secure their incomes.

• Author: Charles, Sarah
• Position: ITC IN ACTION

Maria Genao's gaze is hopeful while scanning her four acres of fields, covered in banana and coconut palm trees.

'When my farm was flooded, the coconut trees survived. For two successive years, our plantations were devastated by the strong winds and flooding due to the hurricanes that passed over the Dominican Republic. But coconuts have thrown us a lifeline,' she says.

Maria is the lead farmer of Bananos Ecologicos de la Linea Noroeste, or BANELINO for short, in the northwestern province of Monte Cristi in the Dominican Republic. Since 2000, BANELINO has been a dynamic and successful organization of family farmers that produces Fairtrade organic bananas primarily for the export market.

Their success, however, had its fair share of challenges in recent years due to a changing climate: more flooding, droughts and hurricanes have caused extensive damage to the banana plantations. Addressing climate change and its impacts are high on the new sustainable development agenda of small island developing states. They are the most exposed and vulnerable to climate change effects, with people and communities experiencing dramatic repercussions. Talcing urgent action that leaves no one behind is a priority.

Witnessing these impacts first-hand, the cooperative was ready for a sustainable answer to adapt to these climate risks--first step: diversifying crops by adding coconuts to mitigate risks and increase resilience.

'Producing coconuts is not only improving our cash flow. It also supports the health of our soil and the biodiversity on our farms', says Maria.

Using the lead-farmer approach, BANELINO met its target of 50% of members growing coconuts by the end of 2018, with unseen benefits: the training courses also included women and young people, who are often left out of skills development exercises because they are burdened with household chores or childcare duties.

But what is a lead-farmer approach? This participatory training and capacity-building method is based on peer learning and community-based knowledge sharing. The trained lead farmers, in turn, train other farmers in their communities, ensuring a domino effect to mainstream quality and improve agricultural skills across the sector.

'As a lead farmer, I am especially eager to share my knowledge with other women in the community. This way they can embrace coconut production and participate in adding value to our products, such as handicrafts,' explains Maria.

Ramon, a 78-year-old...