During a visit to Grenada, the UK Minister for Latin America and Caribbean Baroness Jenny Chapman visited the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association in Grenville, and met with General Manager Senator Roderick St Clair and Christopher Williams, Chairman of Grenada Cocoa Association, and local representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture.
They discussed the impact of Hurricane Beryl, the UK-backed parametric insurance payout, and how to coordinate efforts to raise awareness of the importance of insurance among farmers to ensure a sustainable recovery of agricultural sectors in the aftermath of natural disasters.
She later visited farms in St Patrick to understand Beryl’s on-the-ground impacts, hear farmer concerns directly, and discuss how parametric insurance products could be improved and expanded to better match climatic damages and thus increase resilience further.
On 15 July 2024, the UK-backed Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) confirmed it had paid out US$1.45 million to Corp-EFF Insurance Company Limited in Grenada to support small-scale producers of nutmeg and cocoa along with other businesses and communities impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The NDF was set up with capital from the UK and Germany (£25 million from the UK) and is administered on their behalf by Global Parametrics, a company of the CelsiusPro Group.
Baroness Chapman said: “Spending time with nutmeg farmers today, I’ve seen and heard firsthand the devastating toll Hurricane Beryl had earlier this year.
“It is a stark reminder for us all on the urgent action required against climate change, and it was heartening to see how farmers had benefitted from parametric insurance, supported by the UK government.
The determination of these communities is a powerful example of resilience in the face of climate adversity.”
British High Commission, St George’s
