THE Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on Friday handed over a number of farming equipment and seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture as part of the ministry’s efforts to assist flood-affected persons in Regions Seven and Eight.
The presentation was made by IICA’s Country Representative, Wilmot Garnett, in the compound of the Agriculture Ministry. Accepting the donations on behalf of the Ministry was Permanent Secretary (ag) Joylyn Nestor-Burrowes.
The permanent secretary (ag) thanked IICA for the assistance which she described as timely. She highlighted IICA’s role in the advancement of agriculture, a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture said.
“We are thankful to IICA for this much-needed donation. IICA was the first partnering organisation to answer the call to collaborate with us to assist persons who were affected by this crisis. These items will assist the persons with getting back to their agricultural practices in order to provide for their families.” Nestor-Burrowes said.
Meanwhile, Garnett said the organisation saw the need to lend assistance to the affected persons given its continued efforts to support member states in achieving agricultural development and rural well-being.
The donation consisted of fruits and vegetable seeds and other basic gardening tools such as machetes (cutlasses), forks, spades and gardening hoes. The items will be handed over to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) today for distribution.
Many farms within Regions Seven and Eight were destroyed as a result of flash floods caused by heavy rainfall approximately two weeks ago.