TY - JOUR TI - Building resilience in Jamaica DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3W95D3G PY - 2017 AB - Food security has emerged as a national priority in Jamaica because double exposure to global and economic stressors threaten long term domestic food production, short term food supply and general food prices. This qualitative study examines how citizens in three different Jamaican communities that are customarily perceived as sites of vulnerability have sought to build resilience to food system insecurities, especially those that are induced by periodic natural hazards such as hurricanes and droughts. The histories of resilience building projects undertaken by local community members and external aid giving organizations are identified, compared and contrasted. Focus groups and interviews with residents and officials reveal perceptions of factors that have constrained or facilitated these initiatives as well as opinions about future alternatives. It is concluded that strengthening social capital and attachments to place are essential first steps that create the contexts in which hazard reduction measures have the best chance of succeeding, and without which they are likely to fail. KW - Geography KW - Food supply--Jamaica KW - Climatic changes--Jamaica LA - eng ER -