The Caribbean Agrometeorological Initiative model (Click on image to view full size) The Caribbean Agrometeorological Initiative (CAMI) was established in 2010 to provide a forum for regional dialogue and information sharing between the meteorological and agricultural agencies of 10 Caribbean nations. The objective of this forum was to improve the delivery of climate services to farmers to increase agricultural productivity.

In 2013, Abt Global’s staff conducted an evaluation of the CAMI program on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Initially, the evaluation was designed to assess how effective CAMI was at meeting its stated objective of increasing agricultural productivity. However, three years was too short a time for CAMI partner countries to develop new agro-meteorological information, create an effective means to share this information with farmers, and convince farmers across 10 countries to change farming activities at a scale where it would be possible to measure increased agricultural productivity. Consequently, Abt focused its evaluation on identifying and assessing critical potential breakdowns that could and, in some cases, did prevent CAMI from achieving this objective.

The evaluation involved developing a theory of change and logic model for CAMI; reviewing program materials; site visits and interviews with farmers, agriculture extension agents, meteorologists, and others in three CAMI participant countries: Barbados, Dominica, and Jamaica; phone interviews with CAMI participants in two CAMI participant countries: Grenada and Guyana; and site visits and interviews with CAMI implementing personnel at the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Using this information, Abt determined areas of success, areas where further work is needed, priorities for future climate services work in the Caribbean, and lessons learned that are applicable to climate services in other locations.

Read more about Abt’s evaluation of CAMI:
Technical Report: The Caribbean Agrometeorological Initiative (CAMI): An Evaluation Of Climate Services
“The Caribbean Agrometeorological Initiative (CAMI): Raising Farming Productivity” – Presentation at the Third International Conference on Climate Services: Montego Bay, Jamaica – December 2013