Centre for the deaf gets creative to stay afloat

Rising food costs and a growing energy bill have combined with other factors to prompt the management and staff at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (CCCD) to rethink its outlook going forward. With that adjusted outlook comes a renewed sense of urgency to thrive for self-sufficiency in a number of areas, in order to maintain its sustainability.

Sitting on more than 70 acres of land at its Knockpatrick campus in Manchester, which houses dormitory facilities for students, teachers and staff, the facility, which provides early childhood and secondary education, along with a nationally recognised programme for older students, has been facing some challenges in recent years. Over the years, the CCCD relied heavily on donations from several individuals and organisations, but those started drying up as the global economic hardships wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home.

Soon the costs of operating a crop farm, while maintaining its livestock population from which it sought to supply its internal needs, while reducing its spend on associated food bills began to take a toll, amounting to a total of $2 million per month for its four campuses, with the cost for Knockpatrick at $600,000. Farming activities are carried out mainly by employees who are supported by students engaged in honing their agricultural skills.

Plagued by persistent drought for decades, the water catchment system installed in the 1960s has long been in a state of disrepair and no longer able to retain the amount of water needed to irrigate crops and fertigate its greenhouse. And with more severe weather conditions spreading across the world as the harsh realisations of climate change began to hit home, the CCCD embarked upon a strategic outreach programme, seeking assistance to empower itself.

Through its alliance with the Jamaica Red Cross (JRC), with its mandate to help vulnerable populations affected by climate and environmental crises and the socio-economic effects of COVID-19, the CCCD was put in touch with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), which operates the national extension service.

Self-sufficiency

JRC Project Manager Leiska Powell explained how things moved from talk to action, following an in-depth assessment of the overall situation.

“We started the initiative last year as part of an income generation stream, as well as a means of self-sufficiency in terms of feeding themselves, given that on the farm they actively pursue crop production as well as animal husbandry, catering to students from the infant, primary and high school, plus teaching and ancillary staff.

Thereafter the JRC, with the support of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) of which it is a member, partnered with the CCCD on climate-smart agriculture initiative, with the aim of improving the catchment capability in order to provide water year round and drive agriculture for open field, as well as greenhouse farming.

Under another component of the project, the JRC procured a submersible solar-powered pump to help with irrigation, fertigation in the greenhouse and whatever other forms of precise nutrition applications they might need to use in the future. Thereafter the JRC also added four 1,000-gallon capacity tanks to increase water storage, but still wasn’t finished, according to Powell.

“We just got some additional funding from the IFRC to do a component that CCCD thought would be critical to assisting them in moving forward which is training in climate smart agriculture. So we are now in discussion with RADA to tailor a programme for them, bearing in mind the specific needs of this community and tweaking the material so that it is easily understood and digestible, based on their needs.

“We have engaged RADA and are to have further discussions with them in terms of the roll-out. We want to start September, so we need to finalise the budget, and so on, and we have a draft budget in terms of what it will cost. So, where we are is really just to finalise the implementation of the training, when we going to start.”

Climate-smart agriculture

For John Meek, enterprise manager at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, this partnership with the JRC marks a bold first step its strategic bid to develop a climate-resilient and climate-smart agricultural programme, among other things.

“Irrigation plays a vital role, as without irrigation we can’t plant or raise animals. This therefore provides a key step in the right direction and will allow us to expand our crop production from two-three acres to up to 10 acres, because we now have the irrigation system in place,” he pointed out.

The next phase of the initiative will see the JRC collaborating with RADA to offer climate smart agriculture training to students and staff of the CCCD to further build their capacity in sustainable agriculture and water management. To this end, the organisation will be further empowered to achieve its objectives to reach, teach and nurture the deaf of Jamaica and to enable full language access and affirmation in an inclusive community whereby its members are empowered to know the Lord, appreciate diversity and understand the functions of the wider world.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com