- FAO supports Caribbean governments after impact of Hurricane Beryl
The FAO says preliminary indications are that approximately 60,000 people require humanitarian assistance in St Vincent, and the Grenadines and Grenada.
In a release, the FAO says loss of fishing capacity, including damage to vessels, support infrastructure, and fishing equipment, and damage to crops and livestock, have been reported.
According to the assessments carried out so far, the primary humanitarian needs for the food security sector are focused on restoring the fishing capacity of artisanal fishermen and actors involved in the value chain, including processing, conservation, and transformation equipment and infrastructure; providing planting materials to recover affected crops as well as inputs for short-cycle crops that serve as an alternative source of food and income; cash transfers and other mechanisms so that the most vulnerable fishermen and farmers can access basic needs; and food assistance for the affected population.
FAO is supporting through damage and needs assessment using drones and satellite remote sensing. This information includes ground-level data collection through surveys and key informant interviews.
All of this will guide response and recovery planning. Through the Ministries of Agriculture and CDEMA, governments continue to assess the full extent of damage caused.
To date, the Ministries of Agriculture of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada, have officially requested FAO to support the recovery of their food production systems through emergency agricultural interventions critical to safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
Requests for assistance include the distribution of seeds, fertilisers, fishing inputs, repair of boats and critical processing, preservation and transformation infrastructure, and support for subsistence livestock farming, among others.
