Five New Projects Join the CCRIF Small Grants Portfolio
CCRIF’s Small Grants Programme continues to grow as one of the region’s most impactful community‑level resilience initiatives. Since its launch in 2015, the Programme has invested more than US$4 million in 76 projects led by NGOs, CBOs, schools, faith‑based organizations, and civil society groups across the Caribbean. These projects span climate‑smart agriculture, environmental management, disaster preparedness, youth empowerment, and gender‑responsive resilience.
This quarter, CCRIF approved five new projects, each one adding a fresh dimension to the portfolio and strengthening community‑level adaptation and disaster risk reduction across Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, and Saint Lucia. Together, they represent an additional US$119,500 in new investments and demonstrate how small, targeted grants can catalyze big change. Also, over the quarter, 16 additional projects were in active implementation, representing US$325,525 in ongoing investments.
Five Newly Approved Projects
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Ferncourt High School - Agricultural Innovation & Food Security JAMAICA · US$25,000 · AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY & INNOVATION Ferncourt High School is transforming its Agriculture Department into a modern, climate-smart production and training hub - integrating grow-bag cultivation, poultry production, irrigation upgrades and student agribusiness training to cut school-feeding costs while building practical skills of over 150 students. With a pathway toward aquaculture, apiculture and a future polytechnic-style institute, it extends the small grants programme's strong school-based, climate-smart agriculture stream. It expands CCRIF’s growing portfolio of school‑based climate‑smart agriculture projects - building on successes such as Papine High School’s greenhouse. |
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Papine High School - Agro-Processing Facility JAMAICA · US$25,000 · AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY & INNOVATION Building directly on its previous CCRIF-funded greenhouse, Papine High School is establishing a modern agro-processing facility to turn farm and greenhouse produce into value-added products such as dried fruits, teas, pickled vegetables, flours and sauces. This current project will strengthen agricultural value chains, supports youth training, and creates a scalable model for climate‑resilient school enterprises. |
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Raise Your Voice Saint Lucia Inc. - Economic Capacity for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Survivors SAINT LUCIA · US$25,000 · WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT (CROSS-CUTTING) This project will install a 25KVA solar PV system and a 25,000 gallon rainwater-harvesting system for a new agro-processing facility that will train and employ survivors of GBV. The climate-resilient infrastructure will keep operations running through climate shocks, lower utility costs, and underpin a women-led cooperative enterprise, advancing the small grants programme’s cross-cutting focus on women’s empowerment and ensuring vulnerable groups benefit from resilient infrastructure and economic opportunity. |
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Red Thread - Water Beyond the Pipe: Women-Led Filtration & Monitoring GUYANA · US$24,500 · WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT / CLIMATE RESILIENCE This project introduces low‑cost, women‑led water filtration systems for households relying on rainwater or unreliable municipal supplies. Using gravity‑fed filters and Arduino‑based sensors, in a grassroots initiative, women will install and maintain systems while leading community education sessions. Combining engineering, disaster-water resilience and community organizing, the project intends to address a critical climate vulnerability - water quality - and will produce a replicable model for low-cost adaptation led by women. The project will strengthen CCRIF’s gender‑responsive adaptation portfolio, ensuring women are central actors in climate resilience and household safety. |
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The Cropper Foundation - Community Environmental Monitoring & Reporting System TRINIDAD & TOBAGO · US$20,000 · RESEARCH, DATA & TECHNOLOGY The Cropper Foundation is developing a user-friendly environmental reporting tool, an evidence-capture guide and community training so citizens can better document environmental issues and risks such as illegal dumping, pollution and ecosystem degradation. By improving the quality and evidentiary value of complaints, the project will support faster investigation, enforcement and accountability, strengthening community-led environmental governance and expanding CCRIF’s investments in data-driven resilience and environmental governance. |
Extending an Already Rich Portfolio
These five approvals do not stand alone - they slot into a small-grants project portfolio that already spans the full
spectrum of community resilience. Over its lifetime, the programme has funded projects across:
- Climate resilience and disaster risk reduction
- Infrastructure hardening
- Community capacity building
- Environmental sustainability
- Agriculture and food security
- Research, data and technology.
- Women’s empowerment – which is woven through several of CCRIF’s small grants projects.
The Small Grants Portfolio at a Glance, by Area of Focus
CCRIF Small Grants Projects this Quarter– Generating Momentum Across the Region
Beyond the new approvals, the quarter saw strong delivery on the ground.
- In Antigua and Barbuda, the Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center completed over 90 per cent of its activities, including a train-the-trainer programme for agriculture teachers on vetiver-based ecosystem restoration.
- In Jamaica, the UWI Mona Geoinformatics Institute finalized a Shoreline Erosion Guidance Toolkit for Negril – one of the country’s main tourist destinations, boasting a 7 mile stretch of beach
- In the Commonwealth of Dominica, Kibekuati Inc. reached 98 per cent project completion, delivering draft legislation to the Government on how to protect underground water sources.
- The GIS Society of Trinidad & Tobago launched its NextGen Mappers programme in two schools in Trinidad, with schools in Jamaica to follow.
In all, another 16 projects were in active implementation over the quarter, representing an investment of US$325,525.
Apply for a CCRIF Small Grant Any Time in the Year and Watch This Space
A defining feature of the CCRIF Small Grants Programme is its accessibility: applications are accepted all year round through the online portal on the CCRIF website. Eligible civil-society organizations - NGOs, community-based and faith-based organizations, service clubs, schools and academic institutions in CCRIF member -and CARICOM countries - register once, then apply with supporting documentation. ▶ Learn more and apply: www.ccrif.org/ccrif-small-grants-programme
Coming soon, too, is the CCRIF Small Grants Web Portal, "Resilience in Action: The CCRIF Small Grants Portal" a new resource that will give individuals and organizations a snapshot of successfully implemented projects and a gateway to the knowledge products and other resources produced since the programme launched in 2015.
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THE CCRIF SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE 76 projects since 2015 · US$4M+ invested to date · grants of US$5,000–US$25,000 · applications open year-round. |
