Guyana will on March 21, sign an agreement with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for a loan of US$8.46M while the country will inject US$2.43M into the Hinterland Environmental Sustainable Development Project, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, announced on Friday.

The loan will be signed in Rome, Italy, by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and President of IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze.
Harmon said the project “will provide for the development of investment plans for the establishment of local value chains, the establishment of an investment fund for farmers, the execution of a food and agricultural study in Region One, Barima-Waini and institutional strengthening.”

Additionally, the project will be executed in all sub-regions in Region Nine, along with Sub-Regions Mabaruma and Moruca, Region One and is expected to benefit over 80 Indigenous communities.
The project will comprise two main components which include strengthening of communities and producer groups’ investment planning and implementation of investment plans. A third component will be dedicated to project management, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management.

The project is aimed at contributing to the government’s objective of reducing poverty, and exclusion and isolation of hinterland communities. It will also be aligned with the government’s National Strategy for Agriculture in Guyana 2013-2020, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the Food and Nutrition Security 2011-2020 Strategy (FNSS).