Invest SVG secures 37,000 euro grant

Invest SVG has secured a 37,000 Euro grant from the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) that will be used to develop an agricultural project aimed at empowering women in rural communities.

Executive director at Invest SVG Bernadette Ambrose-Black said that while the full details of the project, dubbed “Rural Women’s Development and Empowerment Project” are still being fleshed out, when launched in a few months, it will be a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Social Development, while CEDA also stressed that Invest SVG must collaborate with two private partners.{{more}}

Ambrose-Black said on Wednesday from her office in the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines (BOSVG) building on Granby Street that the overall objective of the project is to strengthen processes that promote economic development of women and create an environment for social change.

“As with limited resources we are always looking at ways at which we can get funding,” said Ambrose-Black who added that the project will be funded by European Union (EU) through CEDA.

“People living in the rural peripheries, especially women, shoulder the burden of the world’s poverty. They have been deprived for too long from participating in the opportunities and benefits of economic growth and globalisation. Rural women still remain a disadvantaged segment of the Vincentian society and several rural communities have lost traditional sources of revenue and are seeking alternative means to achieve sustainable livelihoods. As a Business support organisation we would like to strengthen the role of rural women entrepreneurs so that they can improve the export potential of their businesses,” said Ambrose-Black.

She stressed that the project was conceptualised to assist marginalised and vulnerable women who are dependent on the informal economy in the country with a focus on improving the livelihood of women in the rural communities thus enabling them to better support their families.

While the full mechanics of the project have not yet been worked out, the Invest SVG executive director said that the project will speak to institutional capacity building for women’s development, the establishment of support mechanisms for women managed income generating activities, establishing mechanisms to access social programmes and leverage funds for community assets creation and provide effective project management systems among other things.

“Initially, when the grant was conceptualised it was with a view to focus on rural women in development as it relates to agriculture and agro tourism,” said Ambrose-Black, who added that Invest SVG has already spoken with Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar with the aim to have the Ministry of Agriculture support and contribute to the project.

“We want to empower rural women in agriculture, strengthen the process that promotes economic development and create an environment for social change. People used to look at agriculture as a dirty job, but agriculture is not just about planting it has many dimensions including agro processing, agro tourism and no longer is it viewed as a dirty job.”

She said there is now an impetus of technology in agriculture and the concept of a farmer is no longer an uneducated person because a lot of qualified people are farming now.

Ambrose-Black also stressed that many rural women contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth of the country, “but we are just not aware of it as these figures are sometimes not recorded.”

She added that they are hoping to attract youths to the project and not just the older women who have been farming all their lives.

Export development officer at Invest SVG Shanna Browne said that the grant is expected to significantly improve the lives of women in the rural communities while she stressed that the project is being done in synergy with the National Economic Development Plan.

She added that the next stage is to officially sign the contract with CEDA then start planning and executing the project.