Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Risk management

IICA to make common cause with the Caribbean in the wake of Hurricane Tomas

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The Director General explained the actions IICA will take in the short, medium and long terms in response to the damage reported by the IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean States.

San José, Costa Rica, November 4, 2010 (IICA). The priority actions to be taken by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on the islands of St. Lucia and St. Vincent, those most affected by the hurricane, will be to secure access to drinking water and food, provide support to the ministry of agriculture and help rebuild the agricultural sector. The Dominican Republic, Barbados and Haiti, also IICA Member States, were also hit by the storm.

According to Una May Gordon, IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean States, the strong winds, accompanied by heavy rainfall, destroyed all crops and interrupted the supply of potable water.

According to Una May Gordon, IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean States, the strong winds, accompanied by heavy rainfall, destroyed all crops and interrupted the supply of potable water and the food distribution system.

Gordon, attending a meeting at IICA Headquarters, said “Only 5% of the banana crop can be saved. A preliminary assessment in St. Lucia and St. Vincent points to damages totaling US$25 million.”

IICA Director General Victor M. Villalobos stated that the Institute’s response to the emergency will be to put its most valuable resource, its technical cooperation, at the service of the affected islands.

Short-term actions to be taken by the Institute include contact the ministers of agriculture of the Caribbean immediately to offer support and map out joint actions. In addition, he urged all IICA personnel to donate funds to purchase food and water as a show of solidarity with their co-workers in St. Lucia and St. Vincent.

In the medium term, the Institute will support the committees assessing damages in the countries. Once they have been quantified, it will be much easier to plan actions.

The Institute will also on take longer term actions related to risk management and increasing access to and expanding the coverage of agricultural insurance in the Caribbean.

Gordon explained that Hurricane Tomas changed from a tropical storm to a category 1 hurricane in less than five hours, which made preventive action impossible and resulted in greater damage. Landslides have cut off a large number of communities and forced the airports on both islands to close.

For more information, contact 
victor.delangel@iica.int 
 

Share

Related news​

Ribeirao Preto, Brasil

June 27, 2025

At the IFAMA World Conference, IICA Director General underscored the need to build a new narrative for agriculture to be recognized as essential for solutions to planetary challenges

The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, participated in Brazil in one of the largest global conferences in the agricultural sector, IFAMA, where he emphasized the need to build a new narrative highlighting the essential role of agriculture in the Americas as part of the solution to the challenges facing humanity.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Montreal, Canadá

June 26, 2025

Countries of the Americas positioned themselves as global suppliers of sustainable aviation fuels at key industry event held in Montreal

The Pan American Coalition on Liquid Biofuels (CPBIO) had a prominent role at the Aviation Climate Week of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), held in Montreal (Canada), with the participation of leading actors in the sector who discussed the latest developments in environmental matters.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Brasilia, Brazil

June 25, 2025

IICA strengthens its partnership with EMBRAPA and is set to install its Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas pavilion in the “AgriZone” at COP30

During the meeting, the senior EMBRAPA and IICA officials also exchanged ideas on how to deepen reciprocal collaboration at the international level, with a focus on cooperation with countries in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins