St Vincent Combatting Food Insecurity
The fallout from many geopolitical issues worldwide has exacerbated the potential for food insecurity in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
As a result of these threats, three OECS countries—Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—have negotiated for emergency World Bank funding to build resilience to our food security challenges.
Through the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) mechanism of an existing World Bank project—in this case, Unleashing the Blue Economy—SVG was able to access US$10 million in special, additional, quick-disbursing financing to launch a focused attack on food insecurity nationwide.
The initiative to create an emergency action plan to combat food insecurity is the brainchild of the honorable Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar.
Over the next year, the Action Plan will purchase and distribute farm equipment, set up greenhouses, distribute seedlings, install refrigerated containers and trucks for the storage and transportation of perishable foodstuffs, improve artificial insemination, distribute livestock and poultry to farmers, install Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), and conduct training for farmers and fishers.
