Location: Pedro Plains, St. Elizabeth
Project Scope: 4,103 hectares
Beneficiaries: 6,267 farm families
The Pedro Plains, located in the arid southern belt of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, comprises over 10,000 hectares of highly fertile land that remains significantly underutilized due to chronic water scarcity. This condition is driven by the area’s arid microclimate, uneven rainfall distribution, saline intrusion from wells, and declining aquifer levels. Existing irrigation infrastructure, supplied by eight operational wells and three deep wells currently under development, provides water to just over 11% of the total area. These artesian systems rely heavily on fossil-fuel-powered pumping, rendering them vulnerable to fluctuating energy costs, supply instability, and the long-term impacts of climate variability.