CTA's infographic depicts the importance of access to knowledge to achieve resilience for small island developing states. Comprising some 52 countries and territories and accounting for 5% of the world’s population, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has about the same number of inhabitants as South Africa. This group of geographically disparate countries, includes some of the poorest countries in the world and faces many vulnerabilities such as natural hazards, international trade dependence, a high food import bill and economic shocks. These economies are highly dependent on tourism which contributes 40% of GDP in contrast to the agricultural sector which only accounts for half of that. However, there are great opportunities emerging and some SIDS are taking full advantage of these and doing extremely well. The key, it seems, is more funding for research. The link between research and indigenous knowledge is needed, and more research is encouraged in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, nutrition-dense foods, and regional trade opportunities.

1. Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
compared with continents are very different in land mass, population size and economies but face very similar challenges
FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM
NATURAL HAZARDS
THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCH IS KEY IN ACHIEVING RESILIENT PRODUCTION, RESILIENT MARKETS AND RESILIENT PEOPLE
HIGH FOOD IMPORT BILL
INTERNATIONAL TRADE DEPENDENCE
island COUNTRIES
Hom e t o mor e t h a n 5 0 m i l l ion pe opl e
of the world populationa ppr ox 5 %
5252
Tourism AGRICULTURE
CONTRIBUTES
MORE THAN
CONTRIBUTES
LESS THAN
40%
TO GDP
20%
TO GDP
& TERRITORIES
Knowledge is resilience. Discover more. www.cta.int
LINKING
r e s e a r c h f or
INNOVATION
TO
INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE
PR OMO T E AGRITOURISMECONOMIC SHOCKS
SMALL EXPORT VOLUME
C om pe t i t ion f or l a n d - t ou r i s m a n d ag r ic u lt u r e
1. CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
2. NUTRITION-DENSE FOOD
3. REGIONAL TRADE OPPORTUNITIES
M o r e r e s e a r c h n e e d e d o n