Approximately $3.2 billion in grants is being made available to small farmers on the southern plains of the island by the Agro Investment Corporation (AIC) under the Southern Plains Agricultural Development (SPAD) Project.
This was disclosed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness while touring the 69th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in May Pen, Clarendon, on Monday. He advised farmers to get in touch with the AIC for information on the application process.
“This groundbreaking initiative is designed to empower and uplift small farmers by providing them with up to 80 per cent of essential resources towards their farming enterprise,” the prime minister explained to the audience.
The major objective of the project is to upgrade the irrigation and drainage networks, roads, and post-harvest handling facilities on 795 hectares of Government-owned lands in Amity Hall and Bridge Pen, St Catherine, and Parnassus in Clarendon.
“I want to encourage our small farmers who are going to seek to participate in the agricultural opportunities that the AIC will provide, to go there now and find out how you can benefit from this matching grant scheme,” Holness urged.
The initiative is being funded through a grant from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF) and is being administered by the Caribbean Development Bank.
The AIC is an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and is on a mission to contribute to a viable and sustainable agricultural sector and socio-economic development by mobilising finance, promoting investment and by providing marketing intelligence, land, infrastructure and support services.
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