Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural chains Competitiveness Productivity

Grenada root crop farmers received donation of plastic packaging crates

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Benefit distribution is part of the actions carried out by the Agriculture Policy Programme (APP)implemented by IICA, CARICOM and CARDI.

The crates are easier to clean, can be reused many times, are easy to store and, when stacked correctly, prevent the produce from becoming squashed. 

Grenada, March 9, 2017 (IICA). A total of 850 packaging crates were distributed to 30 small farmers and farmers’ organisations in Grenada to assist them with the marketing of their produce.

This was of great benefit to the farmers, as they can be used to transport produce from the field to their pack sheds and from their pack sheds to the market. The farmers can also use them to display their produce in the market, thus enhancing the presentation of their produce to the shoppers.

The crates were manufactured from high density polyethylene (HDPE) which is strong and provides protection against degradation by sunlight. They are nestable and stackable, confirm to the ASTM 4577 standard and come in a range of colours such as red, blue, green, black and yellow.

The advantage of using the crates instead of the corrugated boxes being used by farmers is that they are easier to clean, can be reused many times, are easy to store and, when stacked correctly, prevent the produce from becoming squashed. Their inherent qualities of being weather resistant and impermeable to water make them quite suitable for use on farms in both the dry and rainy seasons of the year.

This initiative is part of the actions executed under the 10th EDF Agriculture Policy Programme (APP), implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) together with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

The objective of the APP was to contribute to enhancing the capabilities of the agriculture sector in eradicating poverty. Its ultimate aim was to ensure that small producers are more effectively integrated into national, regional and international markets.

The APP was implemented in the 15 CARIFORUM countries simultaneously. Farmers in Grenada were beneficiaries of the three components of this Programme: regional policy and strategy; innovation, research and development; and enterprise development and marketing. It is under the third component that the plastic packaging crates were made available to the root crop farmers in Grenada.

 

For more information, contact:

Derek Charles, national specialist at the IICA Delegation in Grenada

derek.charles@iica.int

Share

Related news​

San José, Costa Rica

September 10, 2025

Erick Geovany Ac Tot, a cocoa entrepreneur who promotes high-quality cocoa and the preservation of ancestral trees in Guatemala, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality 

Erick Geovany Ac Tot—a prominent Guatemalan cocoa entrepreneur who has been assisting small farmer organizations, promoting high-quality cocoa production and preserving heirloom trees for years, in addition to being a cocoa taster—has been named a Leader of Rurality of the Americas by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). 

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Durante el llamado Diálogo Regional sobre Innovaciones para la Adaptación Climática de pequeños productores del Corredor Seco Centroamericano, los participantes discutieron temas clave como ganadería resiliente, agroforestería, innovación productiva y medidas de adaptación frente a sequías, inundaciones y otros eventos climáticos.

San Salvador

September 9, 2025

In El Salvador, Leaders of Rurality of the Americas shared experiences and engaged in dialogue with youth and specialists on ways to strengthen productivity in the Central American Dry Corridor

The leaders who participated in the meeting were Macarena Valdés and Marco Aceituno from Chile; Elvia Monzón, Gustavo Rivas and Erick Ac from Guatemala; Katy Moncada and Eodora Méndez from Honduras; and Odette Varela and Salomón Zelada from El Salvador.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins