Drought is a bigger, more “insidious” problem for vulnerable farmers in Jamaica and the Caribbean than the more headline-grabbing disasters such as hurricanes.

That’s the firm view of Jamaica’s top civil servant at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry, speaking at a recent UN conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Canada.

Despite the death toll and destruction from Hurricane Matthew which swept across the Caribbean last October, drought and, crucially, a lack of insurance for vulnerable smallholder farmers, was a bigger problem long-term, he told the Americas-wide conference.

Matthew Wells caught up with Mr Stanberry after he’d spoken at a ministerial session on disaster risk management for food security in South America and the Caribbean.

Duration: 2’51”