Eco-Agriculture (2009 – 2011)

In 2009, The Cropper Foundation, with the financial support of the Inter-American Development Bank, engaged in a two-year project to implement sustainable farming practices (SFPs) in the Maracas/ St. Joseph Valley and Caura Valley hillside communities. The project, called EcoAgriCulture, ultimately aimed to design a model for protecting the local ecosystems and alleviating negative downstream impacts within watershed communities while ensuring sustainable livelihoods, which can be replicated in other farming communities across Trinidad and Tobago. The project was undertaken in response to the need to reorient hillside agriculture in the Northern Range within an environmental sustainability framework and to support the social and economic development of communities. The experiences and lessons learnt from the EcoAgriculture project were used to develop a community-based model for sustainable hillside farming to be used within other hillside communities in Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean. The project also attempted to increase public understanding of the need for more sustainable agricultural practices, and inform public policy measures that address the proper utilization and management of hillsides.