Grenada Replants Its Roots as the Isle of Spice

By Klysha Best

The rain fell soft on the hills of Willis, but nobody minded. In fact, it felt like a blessing.

On Saturday, June 28, 2026, Grenadians from every corner of the island and from across the globe, gathered in the mud and the mist for a purpose that was both practical and profoundly symbolic: the National Spice Replanting Day.

It was part of the larger Grenada Diaspora Homecoming 2026, a two-week celebration of reconnection, heritage, and national pride. And at its heart was a simple act with deep meaning: putting the “Isle of Spice” back into the earth.

Hurricanes Ivan (2004), Emily (2005), and Beryl (2024) tore through Grenada’s agricultural heartland, devastating the crops that gave the island its world-famous name. Nutmeg, cocoa, cinnamon, clove, the very essence of Grenada’s identity, were lost in staggering numbers.

But Grenadians are resilient.

“After Hurricane Ivan, we never got back to our levels of production and exports,” said Claudette Joseph, Minister for Legal Affairs, Labour and Consumer Affairs and Attorney General. “So, we wanted to make a deliberate and conscious effort to replant the spices lost.”

The last time Grenada undertook such a massive replanting effort was after Hurricane Janet in 1955 she said. That recovery propelled the island to become the second-largest producer of nutmeg in the world.

Now, a new generation is writing the next chapter.

“It is something we promised in our 2022 election manifesto,” Joseph said. “We thought it fit, as we are celebrating the diaspora who are coming now, that our Grenadians who have come home can join with the locals to participate in the spice replanting effort”.

From St. Patrick’s to St. George’s, from Carriacou to Petite Martinique, the replanting effort was island-wide. 

But the presence of the diaspora made it extra special.

Charlene Harris, a Grenadian who now lives in St Thomas, planned her visit home specifically to coincide with the Diaspora Homecoming. Standing in the rain, with her her hands in the soil, she explained why she came.

“I love Grenada, and I want to see us continue to prosper,” she said. “I want the replanting, for sure, because our spice heritage is important to us”.

She sees the replanting as part of a bigger vision. “Agriculture is something we need to get back into and ensure we are able to feed ourselves and significantly reduce our food imports”

Renisha Jones, Western Agriculture District Officer, explained the strategy behind the replanting. The focus is on nutmeg, clove, and cinnamo, the crops hardest hit by the hurricanes.

But the selection isn’t random; it’s based on soil suitability, space, and climate conditions.

The goal is ambitious: over 40,000 trees planted across the year.

“We want to get back into the name of the Isle of Spice,” Jones said. “This is something that they can do, something that they can look forward to as they are back home.”

For travellers, Grenada’s spices are not just souvenirs, they are the soul of the island. The nutmeg in your morning coffee, the cinnamon in your dessert, the cocoa that flavours the world’s finest chocolate, all of it comes from the hands of farmers and the richness of Grenada’s volcanic soil.

Visitors who return in the years ahead will taste the fruits of this replanting effort. And if they time their trip right, they might even be able to participate in a future National Spice Replanting Day themselves, digging their hands into the earth, planting a piece of the island’s future.

“It’s a good start,” Harris said of the Homecoming event. “You clearly see the interest. Look at us out here in the rain and the hills and mud. As we continue to do it, we get it bigger, better, and stronger.”

And that’s exactly what Grenada is doing, one spice tree at a time.