By Aleen Mirza
Kevon Rhiney is captivated by how globalization and climate change disproportionately impact smallholder farmers in the Caribbean. As a human-environment geographer passionate about climate justice, Rhiney’s research examines the development and justice implications of global environmental change, with a particular focus on this region.
The Caribbean, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable areas, is predicted to face major agricultural threats due to extreme heat stress, prolonged droughts, and severe hurricanes. However, these devastating impacts are already felt by smallholder farmers as erratic weather patterns and limited access to governmental support or loans have made it increasingly difficult for them to recover from and adapt to these climate-related shocks.
A lack of legal land ownership exacerbates farmers’ vulnerability, particularly for women, as many lease, inherit, or occupy land without formal documentation. In Jamaica, Rhiney’s home country, smallholder farmers may also work on government-owned ‘crown lands’ once controlled by the British Royal Crown. Today, smallholder farmers’ heightened vulnerability can be traced back to the region’s colonial past.
During the 1830s Emancipation, formerly enslaved individuals became subsistence farmers and settled in Jamaica’s hilly interior, as plantations dominated fertile coastal lands. As early as the 1600s, the Maroons – enslaved Africans who fled plantations – found refuge in the Cockpit Country, a region well known for its striking karst topography, as it is characterized by sinkholes, caves, disappearing streams, hummocky hills, and steep-sided hollows. Rhiney’s ties to this area run deep; his maternal grandfather spent his life growing yams in one of the most remote areas of the Cockpit Country to support his farming household.
Alongside his ties to smallholder farming, Rhiney is particularly interested in tracing how the legacies of slavery and colonialism continue to shape the community’s present-day struggles, an approach linked to postcolonial theory.
“You cannot understand [smallholder] vulnerability to climate change without understanding [how] they’ve been historically subjected to policies that have marginalized and impoverished them,” he said. “An entire [agriculture] industry has benefited off them and their labor without passing on any form of significant wealth to these farmers and their households.”
“In spite of and despite centuries of marginalization,” Rhiney says, “smallholder farmers are actively observing and innovating to adapt to climate change.”
In Jamaica’s drier regions, such as St. Elizabeth, farmers have turned to organic mulching as an innovative way to combat water scarcity and support crop growth. By spreading local guinea grass over their plots, a protective layer is created that helps the soil retain moisture, stay cool, and reduce water loss through evaporation. It also prevents erosion, suppresses weed growth, and boosts soil fertility. Although mulching itself is not a new practice, farmers in Jamaica have tailored the technique to suit their specific local conditions and various crop types. However, as temperatures rise and drought episodes intensify, the long-term viability of such traditional practices remains uncertain, thus demonstrating the urgent need for more effective ways to adapt to a warming planet.
Rhiney aims to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and traditional, local ecological knowledge in ways that build upon these farmers’ preexisting strategies. Doing so can help identify feasible solutions to their current challenges. Since 2015, he has worked with The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the UN’s Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research (CGIR) to develop innovative solutions on the ground using results from crop-climate models. In the Caribbean, he and his team have organized farmer field schools to collaborate with smallholder farmers, which has created an inclusive learning environment where knowledge is shared and valued. The image to the right illustrates how a participatory and educational approach is used to share fire prevention strategies.
“When we’re thinking about climate research, we can’t think of it in silos,” Rhiney emphasizes. “Because climate change is such a cross-cutting phenomenon…[solving] this multi-dimensional problem requires interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary work… no one person can bring all the skill sets to the table.”
Rhiney’s scholarship has also provided him with what he notes as “amazing opportunities.” As a contributing author to the IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C, he found it incredibly rewarding to see his work cited and translated into policy while also having the honor to represent Jamaica.
Moreover, his sense of fulfillment comes from his unwavering commitment to the communities he loves and cares for. “Ultimately, I do want my work to have an impact. I do want to see people flourish – [doing] the things they love, [making] a decent income from that, and [producing] themselves in a respectable and dignified way.”
Aleen Mirza is an Office of Climate Action Intern and a member of the Class of 2026, majoring in Environmental Policy, Institutions, and Behavior, within the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.