The climate emergency started with the development of plantation economies and the deforestation of the Caribbean and the Americas lands. At the root of the climate crisis, the Industrial Revolution was funded by exploiting monoculture economies such as sugar, cotton, and rice. As a coconut farmer in Barbados, I can see the legacy in the soil and topography in which we work. Coco Hill Forest, a regenerative agroforestry farm and forest, is beautiful. Still, when you scratch the surface, you can see the history of trauma and how this land has been exploited and sterilized. The land is scarred by centuries of colonial monoculture extraction, which has continued to this day, leading to loss of topsoil, soil infertility, mudflows, and land abandonment. Barbados once had primeval forests that produced everything that the indigenous inhabitants needed. But now we grow little and depend on imports for 70% of our food.
The Spanish, English, French, and Dutch built their empires by exploiting resources and people, starting with the Caribbean and the Americas, then Africa and Asia. The sugar cane and plantation economy it spawned generated so much wealth in Barbados that the model was copied and replicated in the Carolinas and North America. Dedicating Barbados to producing sugar for export generated enormous wealth, which funded the British Empire’s industrial development.
Barbados is one of the few places worldwide where the entire land space was commercialized for sugar cane. However, a lucrative sugar economy came at the expense of diverse production for domestic food requirements. It also led to massive loss of both flora and fauna biodiversity. One can argue that 400 years of monochrome has created a culture of dependency on imported foods and solutions. Barbados, therefore, lacks food security – 48% of residents are estimated to be food insecure. The climate crisis brings changing rainfall patterns, droughts, and devastating hurricanes. The costs mount and the result is that we get deeper and deeper in debt to the countries that colonized and exploited us in the first place.
Coco Hill Forest
We use regenerative agroforestry methodologies at Coco Hill, an area in central Barbados that retains remnants of a pre-Columbus forest despite its history as a sugar plantation. Although the land has been abandoned since the middle of the 20th century, the old sugar cane planting beds are still there; right to the ridge edges, every square inch was used to plant sugar cane. The soil was tilled in furrows, all planted downhill, so when the rains came, vast amounts of topsoil were washed away, eventually leading to mudslides and then abandoned gullies. It was abandoned, but the erosion and soil sterility continues. It is estimated that 50% of the topsoil in the Scotland District area has been eroded.
This is an opportunity for Coco Hill to return this abandoned land to a food forest. We must attempt to address soil erosion and infertility and find a way to transform an area that represents 17% of our landmass into a sustainable and resilient food system.
Coco Hill Forest practices regenerative agroforestry. We go back to the idea of mimicking the forest and intercropping many different species of trees. Coco Hill is a space that deconstructs mono-crops and monoculture agriculture. The coconut is our symbol of climate change adaptation as it is considered the “Tree of Life”; it gives you water, milk, oil, sugar, flo” r, and many other products. Its roots help keep soil and can grow in sand or clay. It is also hurricane-resistant.
If Coco Hill can thrive, it will demonstrate the potential of regenerative agriculture, linked with the tourism, creative arts, and energy sectors, to revitalize long-abandoned spaces. Regenerative economics could be an inspiration for others to follow, at least. But that would need investment and commitment to agriculture.
Drought and the climate emergency
However, climate change, including prolonged periods of drought, is seriously impacting Barbados and driving people away from farming. Our contribution to the fossil fuel emissions that have caused climate change has been negligible, but we live the results every day. This brings substantial and long-term costs. Rural communities are having to go without consistent water supply for long periods. The drying up of aquifers and volatile rainfall patterns are disastrously impacting farmers, affecting yields and raising the cost of water required for crops. Barbados is among the ten most water-stressed countries in the world, with only 350 cubic meters per capita of renewable water resources a year, around a third of the UN threshold for water scarcity. This ultimately impacts national food security, as the country is far from producing the food it needs.
Our water distribution system is also a considerable challenge, as parts date back to the 1860s. As a result, as much as 60% of our domestic water supply leaks back. The government lacks the resources to invest in replacing aging water infrastructure, water conservation, and seed banks. This means that water is too expensive for farmers.
Debt
As a result, Barbados is in a severe debt crisis. The British colonial authorities invested in infrastructure eleven years before independence. This sudden rush of investment left us over $25 million in debt. The subsequent collapse of the sugar industry meant that we could never get out of debt.
We are not considered poor enough to access cheap loans and grants from international institutions, so we have to borrow at high interest from private lenders on the global finance market. When we are hit by drought, the pandemic, or rising food and fuel prices, it becomes difficult to keep making the repayments. Our public debt was over 140% of GDP in 2020, the highest level in the Caribbean and amongst the highest in the world. The country must spend much of its revenue on paying creditors. Our debt payments are higher than our spending on healthcare. This is alongside an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program that has imposed significant cuts to public services, hitting the most vulnerable people and communities hard. The Covid pandemic worsened our debt levels, so we have suffered austerity policies without solving the debt problem. The Caribbean is experiencing a silent debt crisis and is on the frontline of the climate emergency.
The IMF austerity program means we need more wiggle room to spend on development projects or infrastructure development. The government does not have the resources to invest in development projects, including upgrading our aging water infrastructure and addressing food insecurity through regenerative agriculture projects such as Coco Hill.
Conclusion
Before Barbados’ independence, there was no actual development in Barbados’ Sustainable economy, so now we have to borrow funds to try to do that. We are stuck in a climate debt trap, in which we have to borrow to pay for the damage caused by the climate emergency, as well as the inadequate infrastructure that is the legacy of colonialism. Still, the repayments and high interest rates drain resources and prevent us from investing sufficiently to prevent further harm. At independence, we inherited a broken system. We can only feed our people if we fix our soil fertility and erosion challenges. This directly results from empire and wealth extraction to the colonial Center. The legacy of debt threatens our sovereignty. Instead of inheriting transgenerational wealth, our children are inheriting transgenerational debt. We do not owe a debt; we have already paid in blood, sweat, and tears over centuries of stolen resources.
To break free from this cycle of debt and exploitation, we must advocate for climate justice and support initiatives like the Caribbean Policy Development Centre’s (CPDC) Regional Debt Relief Campaign. Together, the Center will create a more resilient and sustainable future for Barbados and the Caribbean region.
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