Over US$10M to be plugged into hinterland agri development

GUYANA, GINA, Friday, February 17, 2017

Over US$10M will be invested on development of agriculture in Guyana’s hinterland. This development will be facilitated through the Hinterland Environmental Sustainable Development Project.

Cabinet has approved for Guyana to attend the project’s signing ceremony to be held in Rome, Italy on March 21, 2017.

This was disclosed by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today, at the weekly Post-Cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency. The Minister noted that the project will be financed largely by a loan of US$8.46M from the International Fund for Agricultural Development, (IFAD) while Guyana will fund US$2.43M. The loan will be signed by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and President of IFAD, Kanayo F. Nwanze.

The project, according to Minister Harmon, “will provide for the development of investment plans for the establishment of local value chains, the establishment of an investment fund for farmers, the execution of a food and agricultural study in Region One, Barima-Waini and institutional strengthening.”

Minister Harmon pointed out that the project will be executed in all the sub-regions in Region Nine, along with Sub-Region one, Mabaruma and Moruca, Region One and is expected to benefit over 80 Indigenous communities.

The project will comprise two main components which include strengthening of communities and producer groups’ investment planning and implementation of investment plans. A third component will be dedicated to project management, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management.

The project will contribute to the government’s objective of reducing poverty, and exclusion and isolation of hinterland communities. It will also be aligned with the government’s National Strategy for Agriculture in Guyana 2013-2020, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the Food and Nutrition Security 2011-2020 Strategy (FNSS).

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite