IICA promotes the strengthening of links to boost agriculture in the Caribbean

Guyana. The Director of Management and Regional Integration of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Diego Montenegro, and the IICA Guyana Representative, Wilmot Garnett, met with the Agriculture Minister of that country, Noel Holder, to promote better cooperation for the development of agriculture.

At the meeting, which was held at the Ministry of Agriculture, a variety of topics were discussed, including boosting cassava production, agro-processing, small ruminants, policies of land use, the role of women and youth in agriculture and the promotion of scholarships from Mexico.

Montenegro spoke of ways in which the Institute could work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to further advance agriculture in the region.

“We recently approved a medium term plan which focuses on the thematic areas that are relevant to Guyana and the region. IICA has been a strong player within the Ministry of Agriculture, in an effort to foster regional integration,” Montenegro said.

He also paid a courtesy call to Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana, Carl Greenidge, in which the importance of collaboration and coordination of activities among international and regional partners was analyzed for a better contribution to the development of the Caribbean region.

The Carambola Fruit Fly Surveillance program with Suriname and Brazil, IICA’s support to linking Guyana with other countries to increase trade, and the importance of Guyanese benefiting from the Mexican scholarships were also highlighted at the meeting.

In addition, issues such as the Carambola Fruit Fly Surveillance program, developed jointly with Suriname and Brazil, and the benefits of the scholarships awarded by Mexico for Guyanese were highlighted during the meeting.

According to Montenegro, the Institute has recently approved a Rapid Response Mechanism program to assist developing countries, from which Guyana also stands to benefit. Over the years, IICA has been a major player in assisting small farmer groups in Guyana. The FonTC program is another such program funded by IICA.

“We also need to push for private sector development and move beyond fresh produce, adding value and improving the transportation challenges facing the Caribbean, thus reducing the import bill.”

Both the Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Agriculture Minister welcomed the interventions by IICA, alluding to the fact that agriculture continues to play a major part in the country’s GDP.

In addition, the Ministers added that the success of any agriculture program depended on coordination and continuous monitoring, and that these were areas within which IICA was excited to be working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Más información: 
wilmot.garnett@iica.int