$5.3 million Caribbean Agricultural Project to soon benefit farmers in Dominica

The farmers in the Commonwealth of Dominica will soon benefit from the Caribbean Agricultural Productivity Improvement Activity Project (CAPA). This $5.3 million project will help farmers and stakeholders in the fruit and vegetable industry by promoting the use of market-driven agricultural technologies and practices.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, the IESC (International Executive Service Corps) has launched a new USAID-funded program that will last three years in the ESC (Eastern and Southern Caribbean).

CAPA will be officially launched in Guyana on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, after which it will be introduced in all other Caribbean nations.

This project will boost food security and strengthen the livelihoods of farmers. It will also help the farmers to connect with domestic and regional markets easily.

The Ministry also announced that the IESC has recruited a local Market-led Production Specialist for CAPA in Dominica.

It is also to be noted that the Market-led Production Specialist will facilitate and deliver on-the-ground execution of production-level capacity-building interventions, which will be in partnership with local partners. [caption id="attachment_66869" align="alignnone" width="1427"] Meeting of Agriculture Ministry[/caption]

This will also include the private sector agribusinesses, and public sector extension service providers to facilitate three farmer-led demonstration sites for the delivery of training and technical assistance.

The Agriculture Ministry announced that this assisatance will help Dominican farmers to apply improved practices and technologies required to meet quality and quantity specifications from purchasers.

In addition to this, for Dominica specifically, CAPA will concentrate on sweet potatoes, dasheen, passionfruit and cassava for the first seven months, after which the focus will be shifted to vegetable production.

Recently, the consultant team met with stakeholders from several sub-sectors, including Aid Band; Extension Services/DoA; Dominica State College; Dominica Hucksters Association and other major partners DEXIA, NCCU, NDFD, DHA, DEALCRP, IICA, DSC, AID Bank, WUSC.

The Agriculture Ministry of Dominica was delighted with the development and said that it would be a huge benefit for the farmers and the entire sector as a whole.