Growing Resilience: How Community Agriculture Can Fortify Trinidad and Tobago Against Climate Change

At San Fernando Girls’ Government School, a small hydroponic system has become a laboratory for the future. Eleven-year-old Anna-Maria Henry leans over rows of pak choi and lettuce, carefully checking the nutrient solution. As part of the 4-H Green Thumbs Club, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Anna-Maria and her classmates have transformed a corner of the school compound into a thriving garden without soil.

“We are the future,” she says with conviction. “And our food is the future.”

Her school club does more than grow vegetables. Students measure pH levels, track expenses, and reinvest proceeds from sandwich sales into seedlings. For Anna-Maria, learning to grow food is particularly appealing because it is technologically driven and climate-smart. 

“It is better than planting in the ground because the amount of materials and pollution that might be in the ground… you can put your seedlings in your hydroponic system and control the environment that your plants are in,” she explains.

For many older Trinbagonians, these school projects revive memories of a bygone era. Not long ago, most homes had a “kitchen garden” in the backyard, supplying bodi, ground provisions, seasoning and dasheen bush for family meals. Supermarkets and imported staples gradually replaced those habits, but the instinct to grow food never truly disappeared.

That instinct has prompted residents of Cashew Gardens to take charge of what they eat. With support from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), they built a community greenhouse powered by solar and wind, supported by rainwater harvesting, composting and hydroponics. Families eat fresher food, sales generate income, and organic waste cycles back into the environment as fertiliser. It is a community-led circular economy in action — proof that resilience to inflation and supply shocks can start at the grassroots. During COVID-19, similar gardens in Arima, Sea Lots and Gonzales also helped households secure food, underscoring the value of home gardening in times of crisis.

The urgency of such efforts is clear. In fiscal 2023, Trinidad and Tobago’s food import bill reached TT$7.2 billion. For a country of just 1.4 million people, that is a heavy burden — draining foreign exchange and leaving households vulnerable to global price shocks. And because Trinidad and Tobago is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), the vulnerabilities multiply: limited arable land, exposure to hurricanes and flooding, dependence on external markets, and an economy tied closely to energy exports. At the regional level, Latin America and the Caribbean are close to achieving productive and sustainable agriculture, and SIDS have shown slight improvement — but the gap remains.

Climate change compounds the pressure. Rising temperatures stress crops and livestock; erratic rainfall swings between drought and flood; stronger storms disrupt transport and markets. New pests and diseases take root in shifting conditions. For a SIDS already stretched by its geography and economy, these shocks are not distant threats — they are present realities. Nearly 70% of land used by smallholder farmers in Trinidad is covered with heavy clay soils, vulnerable to both drought and flooding, while an estimated 30–40% of agricultural land nationwide suffers from soil degradation, threatening food security and carbon retention.

Communities are responding by drawing on cultural memory and heritage crops to adapt, innovate and rebuild resilience. The World Food Programme’s Returning to Our Roots campaign highlights traditional root crops like dasheen, cassava and sweet potato — foods central to Caribbean identity that are hardy, low-input staples able to withstand shocks.

In rural communities, that revival is personal. In Brasso Seco, Carl Fitzjames, co-founder of the Alliance of Rural Communities recalls growing up surrounded by gardens and anchoring meals in hearty ground provisions. Today he continues planting and urges others to do the same:

“If you’re living in an apartment, you can still put a few vegetables in a box and they will grow. You don’t need an acre — even in high-rises people are planting food. The key is to multi-crop, mixing corn, bananas and peas so you always have something to reap. Composting peelings and scraps creates the rich soil your plants need without expensive inputs.”

But community-led action alone is not enough; institutional support is essential. That is why national institutions are being equipped to scale up climate-smart agriculture. Under the Government’s Country Programming Framework (2023–2026) with FAO, there is a commitment to strengthen agrifood systems through climate-smart practices, sustainable land use and support for small-scale farmers, youth and women. Efforts include promoting community and urban agriculture, training farmers and schools in agroecological practices, and establishing model farms.

Scaling up requires the right scaffolding. The National Adaptation Plan identifies agriculture and food security as a priority for resilience. The National Climate Change Policy calls for mainstreaming adaptation across all sectors. Meanwhile, the Agro-Incentive Programme offers grants to farmers and groups investing in shade houses, efficient irrigation, and modern technology — the very tools community gardens need.

A cultural shift is also underway in how young people are engaged. By sparking interest in food preservation and sustainable agriculture from an early age, UN agencies, government, civil society and the private sector are inspiring a new generation of agricultural entrepreneurs. The benefits are long term: as Anna-Maria’s journey shows, when youth gain skills in agriculture, “they carry them into adulthood, weaving food security into the fabric of society.”

What remains is to ensure resources reach schools and communities consistently. Imagine every primary school with a hydroponic system, every secondary school paired with a community plot, and every neighbourhood able to access small grants for climate-smart farming. Students would not just learn about agriculture; they would carry skills into adulthood, weaving food security into the fabric of society.

As Anna-Maria puts it: “We need to learn how to grow our own food because the prices are going up. And planting makes you healthier, too. You get vitamins, protein, starch — and it makes you strong.”

Agriculture is about more than food. It is about confidence — knowing we can feed ourselves even in times of disruption. It is about connection — tying us back to backyard traditions and forward to innovations like hydroponics. And it is about continuity — passing knowledge between generations to meet new challenges.

With the passion of young people like Anna-Maria, the grassroots wisdom of leaders like Carl Fitzjames, the heritage of root crops celebrated by WFP, and supportive policies and programmes, Trinidad and Tobago can face the future not with fear but with the assurance that its people are ready to grow through change.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Trinidad Guardian.