Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Hon Ralph Gonsalves today, sign on behalf of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, two loan agreements with Ms Tahseen Sayeed, – World Bank’s Country Director for the Caribbean.
Both agreements were approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in May, 2017. Both loans provide financial resources from the Bank to address critical constraints in human development and in the agriculture sector.
The first loan is a human Development Service Delivery Project in an amount of US$10.7 million, to be financed fully by an IDA Credit to the government. No co-financing is required, but the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will provide in-kind contribution to support the successful execution of the project.
The project will be implemented over a five-year period commencing 2017. The project is expected to commence in earnest by August 2017, following the recruitment of key project staff (including Project Coordinator, TVET Programme Manager, and the establishment of the project steering committee.
Project Objectives
This project is designed to strengthen the quality of service delivery in education, improve the efficiency of social protection systems, and improve the effectiveness of labour market systems in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The project is structured around four components. The first component will provide support for pedagogy for basic education teachers. The second component will build responsive social protection service delivery systems, and the third component will strengthen labour market systems for improved skills training of poor and vulnerable populations. The fourth component will support project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
| Project Components | US$ M |
| 1. Strengthening pedagogy for basic and special needs education | $2.16 |
| 1.1 Strengthening teaching capacity | $1.81 |
| 1.2 Developing capacity of school leaders to support teachers in improving pedagogy | $0.35 |
| 2. Building Responsive Social Protection Service Delivery Systems | $3.46 |
| 2.1 Support in Completing an Enhanced Country Poverty Assessment (eCPA) | $0.80 |
| 2.2 Support in Strengthening the SP System (MONM) | $2.66 |
| 3. Strengthening Labour Market Systems and Improving Skills Training of Poor and Vulnerable Populations | $3.84 |
| 3.1 Support in Strengthening TVET Certification Framework | $3.32 |
| 3.2 Support in Strengthening of Labour Legislative Framework | $0.52 |
| 4. Project Implementation Support | $1.24 |
| Total Cost | $10.7 |
Agriculture Competitiveness Project
The second loan Agreement is the OECS Agriculture Competitiveness Project which will be implemented in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. The total cost of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ project is US$4.30 million and is 100% Bank funded by an IDA Credit with no co-financing required. However, as part of the project implementation modality, counterpart funding will be provided from key beneficiaries of approximately US$0.72 million. The overall total project cost is projected to be US$5.02 million. The government will also provide in-kind contribution to support the successful implementation of the project.
The overall objective of the project is to enhance access to markets and sales for competitively selected farmers and fisher-folk (FF), as well as their allied aggregators and agro-processors (AA) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The main project beneficiaries include:
- Small-scale individual or organised farmers and fisher-folk (FFs).
- Aggregators and agro-processors (AAs), including: (a) producer organisations (associations, cooperatives or similar formal organisations with legal standing); and (b) SMEs, such as wholesalers, traders, lead farmers (with legal standing to act as an aggregator), and industrial agro-processors.
- The extension staff of the Ministry of Agriculture will benefit through capacity building.
| Project components | IDA Credit | Beneficiaries’ contribution | Total costs |
| ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES | |||
| 1. Support for Preparation of Business Plans | 0.43 | 0.43 | |
| 2. Implementation of Business Plans | 2.73 | 0.72 | 3.45 |
| 3. General Agricultural Services and Enabling Environment | 0.36 | 0.36 | |
| 4. Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation | 0.78 | 0.78 | |
| Subtotal | 4.30 | 0.72 | 5.02 |
| TOTAL PROJECT COSTS | 4.30 | 0.72 | 5.02 |
Prime Minster Gonsalves and Ms Sayeed signed the agreements in Cabinet Room at 10.am on Thursday 15th, June 2017.
