Kevon Rhiney

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | Rutgers · Department of Geography

In the context of discipline‐wide efforts to produce more inclusive, just, and equitable norms of geographical knowledge production, section editors for Geography Compass identify five concrete practices by which to address systemic inequities, injustices, and exclusions through their editorial work.

The COVID pandemic has been yet another reminder for those living in capitalist societies of the crucial importance of biodiversity for human health and of the urgency of shifting to much more constructive interactions with other organisms and physical environments. Instead, with the new Global Biodiversity Framework, there is a throwback to coloni...

The concept of vulnerability has been central to geographic research on human–environment relations. Three shifts in the concept's evolution alongside shifting forms of reason that prevail within the wider discipline are particularly important. First, that from early hazards scholars' positivism and behavioralism to the structuralist and materialis...

This essay draws on Jovan Scott Lewis’s Scammer’s Yard: The Crime of Black Repair in Jamaica (2020), a rich ethnographic study of lottery scammers in Jamaica and the ethical logic they use to justify scamming as a form of reparations, to think about the limits of Black reparative claims. Specifically, it draws on various theorizings of Black insurg...

Inequalities are ubiquitous in every society on Earth, and the COVID-2019 pandemic has exposed the marginalized communities that suffer the most. A warming planet will only magnify this gap. On the eve of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, this Voices asks: how can science inform and address inequalities?

In this perspective, we draw on recent scientific research on the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic that severely impacted several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean over the last decade, to explore how the socioeconomic impacts from COVID-19 could lead to the reemergence of another rust epidemic. We describe how past CLR outbreaks have...

In this perspective, we draw on recent scientific research on the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic that severely impacted several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean over the last decade, to explore how the socioeconomic impacts from COVID-19 could lead to the reemergence of another rust epidemic. We describe how past CLR outbreaks have...

Coffee supports the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in more than 52 countries, and generates billions of dollars in revenue. The threats that COVID-19 pose to the global coffee sector is daunting with profound implications for coffee production. The financial impacts will be long-lived and uneven, and smallholders will be among the h...

Despite their heterogeneity, small island developing states (SIDS) are recognized as being particularly at risk to climate change, and, as they share numerous common traits, the United Nations recognizes them as a special group. SIDS have been quite vocal in calling attention to the challenges they face from climate change and advocating for greate...

In this short commentary, we discuss the ways in which racial capitalism has developed a historical and ecological landscape through which COVID-19 has emerged, spread, and created uneven impacts across long-standing racial divisions inseparable from capitalist accumulation and expansion. We argue that this perspective on COVID-19 (and infectious d...

Since September 2012, the Jamaican coffee industry has been grappling with the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic caused by the fungal pathogen Hemileia vastatrix. The first widespread outbreak affected more than one third of coffee plants across the island, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenues for the sector. The emergence and spread of...

Coffee is a global commodity that supports the livelihoods of 100 million people worldwide, many of whom are smallholder farmers. While smallholder farmers are known to be vulnerable to social and environmental changes, the complex interactions that shape their vulnerability have not been adequately explored. This analysis identifies the determinan...

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This is part of a book review forum in Dialogues in Human Geography on Kevin Grove’s recently published book, ‘Resilience’. The short commentary reflects on the ways Grove take on the difficult task of mapping the explicit and circuitous ways resilience has been transforming the way we think about human-environment relationships, particularly the w...

This chapter explores the current and impending challenges faced in achieving agricultural sustainability in the Caribbean within the context of a changing regional climate. Here, I seek to offer more than a descriptive account of the common structural challenges faced within the region’s agriculture sector, but to also provide a critical analysis...

In this chapter, we illustrate how place becomes embedded in the production of popular Jamaican music, and how music can serve as a fulcrum for reimagining and transforming urban landscapes. We examine the evolution of popular Jamaican music from its early rural-based origins during slavery to the urban music forms that emerged in the post-colonial...

On 6 September 2017, hurricane Irma made landfall in Sint Maarten causing extensive infrastructural damage and leaving thousands homeless in its aftermath. Despite ongoing relief efforts, the country is still facing a huge recovery task nearly one year on. Amid a new hurricane season, many questions remain about the country’s future and its state o...

On 6 September 2017, hurricane Irma made landfall in Sint Maarten causing extensive infrastructural damage and leaving thousands homeless in its aftermath. Despite ongoing relief efforts, the country is still facing a huge recovery task nearly one year on. Amid a new hurricane season, many questions remain about the country’s future and its state o...

Despite recent calls to limit future increases in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C, little is known about how different climatic thresholds will impact human society. Future warming trends have significant global food security implications, particularly for small island developing states (SIDS) that are recognized as being among th...

In this essay, I draw attention to the varying ways the combined forces of global economic and environmental change have been threatening the livelihood security of farmers in the Caribbean. The essay sheds light on some of the local-scale implications of these wider structural and ecological changes and highlights the fact that the impacts are lik...

This chapter discusses how the global economy and socio-technical and socio-ecological systems can transition to 1.5°C-consistent pathways and adapt to warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In the context of systemic transitions, the chapter assesses adaptation and mitigation options, including carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and potential so...

To support the implementation of CTA’s flagship project for the Caribbean, this report is aimed at developing capacity-building efforts for specific groups of farmers engaging in specific production activities in priority value chains so they may improve their access to key markets. This report focuses on the threats climate change poses to the pro...

Plant breeding has undoubtedly been successful in increasing the yield of high value commodity crops. In recent decades, efforts have been made to repeat this success in ‘orphan crops’ through a network of regional and national organizations largely composed of public and not-for-profit institutions. Adapting to climate change is a key challenge fo...

Access to climate information has the potential to build adaptive capacity, improve agricultural profitability, and help manage risks. To achieve these benefits, knowledge of the local context is needed to inform information development, delivery, and use. We examine coffee farming in the Jamaican Blue Mountains (BM) to understand farmer livelihood...

In this paper, we use a Water Accessibility Index (WAI) to determine differences in urban household water access in an inner-city community characterized by relatively high piped water coverage. The case study is based on field data collected in a low-income community called August Town, located in Jamaica's capital city of Kingston. A semi-formal...

With the vulnerability of Jamaica’s agricultural sec- tor to climate change being well established, there is a com- pelling need to incorporate useful adaptation strategies. One such pro-adaptation strategy is the farmer field school (FFS) which is currently being used to promote climate-smart agri- cultural practices among Jamaican farmers through...

This chapter primarily reports on a baseline study that was conducted with cocoa farmers in Jamaica and Trinidad, to examine the likely impacts of predicted changes in climate on this high value perennial crop, and to take stock of the associated socio-economic consequences especially for rural smallholders. The study was part of a larger regional...

Climate change is affecting Caribbean nations in a significant manner. Yet there is limited research on the varied effects on these island states and the ways in which adaptation has occurred. This paper introduces the idea of climate justice for the Caribbean region, highlighting a series of papers focused on climate justice concerns.

Despite many attempts by Caribbean governments to resuscitate the industry, agriculture has declined in economic importance over the years (Potter et al. 2004). The 1970s and 1980s saw the region-wide promotion of manufacturing industries epitomized by the preponderance of free trade zones and apparel export industries (Potter et al. 2004). In rece...

In this chapter we present an introduction to the book. The chapter serves to contextualize the discussion that occurs in each section and chapter and to provide background analysis that synthesizes the importance of the various issues to the Caribbean. We begin by introducing the Caribbean as a region before discussing briefly the main themes of t...

In this chapter, we seek to synthesize the key themes, findings, lessons, and implications raised in the preceding chapters. Our aim is to make some generalizations about the interface between globalization, climate change, and agriculture and food in the Caribbean. We will focus on the lessons learned from the research and suggest some critical st...

The last decade has seen a growing body of research about globalization and climate change in the Caribbean. This collection is a significant addition to the literature on a topic that is of critical importance to the region. It explores research from a number of Caribbean islands dealing with a range of issues related to agriculture and food in th...

This paper examines climate justice from the perspective of three remote indigenous Carib communities located in northeastern St. Vincent, amidst their vulnerability to climatic hazards. The study contributes to the growing body of literature that explores the impacts climate-induced changes are having on Indigenous peoples through its explicit foc...

Exploratory analyses and validation of vegetation vigour across Jamaica during historical mid-summer drought (2000-2015) using the Enhanced Vegetation Index.

The primary goal of this project is to develop a five-year Agriculture Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCSAP) for the Jamaican agriculture sector that will guide the development of a climate smart and climate resilient industry, effectively reducing the risks posed by a changing and variable climate. The initiative is in line with the rece...

The primary aim of this study was to document eleven successful cases of trade linkages in the Caribbean between agribusinesses and buyers in the tourism sector that can be up-scaled and/or replicated. The case studies were drawn from five selected Caribbean countries, namely: Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Suriname. It is expected that t...

While it is generally recognized that the projected changes in the global climate will have serious negative consequences for the Caribbean as a whole, it is becoming more and more evident that the impacts of climate change will not be uniformly felt across the region. The primary aim of this paper is to provide a review of the Caribbean climate ch...

The Pedro Bank is one of the largest offshore banks (8,040 km2) in the Caribbean, and along with its four cays, is considered very important biologically and economically to Jamaica. Fishers have frequently used two of these four cays as a base to launch their fishing operations on the Pedro Bank since the 1950s. Among several issues, the improper...

While the movement towards a single market regime in the Caribbean is regionally accepted as a step in the right direction, the wide and in-creasing disparities among Caribbean Community (CARICOM)nations create some legitimate concerns regarding the effects of deepened economic integration on lesser-developedmember states. One of the most substanti...

This paper examines place inscriptions in Trench Town, Jamaica, and explores the ways these are used to reinforce, shape, or challenge dominant images of this inner-city community. On one hand, Trench Town is like many of its neighbouring communities, characterised by high levels of poverty, unemployment, political and gang violence, derelict build...

An isolated and remote fishing village until the late 1960s, Negril has grown to become one of Jamaica’s largest and most rapidly expanding resort towns. This chapter seeks to chronicle the growth of the Negril tourism industry since its formal inception in the late 1960s and explore some of the major social and economic challenges that have emerge...

This paper looks into place's multidimensionality through the example of a western Kingston's slum. Reading the urban – or more accurately proto-urban – landscape of the peculiar Trenchtown's community allows us to reveal the place's politics, culture and identity. Trenchtown is the birthplace of reggae stars such as Bob Marley and many more. Expla...

Changes to the new global political economy particularly those relating to trade liberalisation and its re-shaping of global food chains have placed Caribbean agriculture under severe threat. As such, most Caribbean states are becoming evermore cognizant of the need to reform their respective agricultural sectors. Part of this reform includes an em...

1. Introduction: Caribbean Tourism: New Perspectives Part 1: Image, Culture and Identity 2. Re-Visioning Caribbean Tourism 3. Bob Marley Rastafari and the Jamaican Tourism Product 4. Jamaican Vinyl Tourism: A Niche within a Niche 5. Tourist-Nationalism in Trinidad & Tobago 6. A Postcolonial Interrogation of Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Gay To...