Chile and Uruguay help strengthen food security in SVG

Along with Chile and Uruguay, IICA strengthens food security in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with donations of seeds, broiler chickens and laying hens March 6, 2025

One of the donations to the Ministry of Agriculture of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-25 kilos of vegetable seeds donated through the IICA Delegation in Uruguay-was received by Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening food security and agricultural resilience in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, countries to which it delivered donations of high-quality horticultural seeds, day-old broiler chicks, and laying hens.

These contributions, obtained through the Institute’s partners in Chile and Uruguay, are part of the specialized agency for agricultural and rural development’s efforts to rebuild the agriculture sector in the wake of the devastation in the island nations caused by Hurricane Beryl in 2024, a release from IICA dated March 5, 2025 states.

The hemispheric organisation said the Ministry of Agriculture of SVG received “two important donations”.

The first was 25 kilograms of vegetable seeds donated by the IICA Delegation in Uruguay, and received by Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar and senior ministry officials. The second donation to the country consisted of a further 49 kilos of vegetable seeds, also delivered to the Ministry, obtained through the IICA Delegation in Chile and was received by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nerissa Gitens-McMillan.

Minister Caesar stressed that the donated seeds will benefit people engaged in horticulture and commercial agriculture, to increase food production and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.

“We are going to intensify the production of seedlings in different farming seasons. We are going to work not only with horticulturists, but also with a number of local farmers who are in the process of stepping up their production to cater to the hospitality sector and meet the growing demand we are seeing. We must work as a team to reduce the food import bill of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Caesar is quoted in the IICA release as stating.

He added: “We are seeing a significant rise in the cost of food worldwide, and when we implement projects like these we are actually working to lower the cost. Therefore, I would like to encourage the farmers who will receive seeds and seedlings to make sure that we are doing our part,” the Minister stressed, as he thanked IICA and its representative “for working with us over recent weeks and months so we could receive these seeds”.

IICA also delivered 7500 day-old chicks to the Ministry, which worked with the Zero Hunger Trust Fund and the Farmers Support Company to coordinate their distribution among horticulturists at the Ministry’s headquarters in Kingstown.

In receiving the second donation, Gittens-McMillan reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to expanding local food production.

IICA Technical Specialist, Michael Dalton explained that: “The Institute has taken advantage of its presence and relationships in South America to obtain these crucial inputs for the region. These initiatives are aligned with IICA’s mission to boost local food production, improve the resilience of the agriculture sector, and support long-term food security in both countries”.

In Chile, the PLANTEC Chile corporation, which in 2021 donated 450,000 fruit and vegetable seeds as part of the campaign of assistance promoted by IICA for the recovery of the food sector in the island countries, once again answered the call.

PLANTEC General Manager, Ángel Esnaola said: “We are aware of the difficulties that our farmer customers often face at the local level, and being able to help them at a time when they are having problems with some small amount of assistance, which is what this seed really is, is very important for us. The entire PLANTEC organization in Chile has participated in this initiative and is delighted to be able to collaborate”.

The delivery of chicks was financed with resources from the IICA Director General’s Special Fund for the Caribbean Region, whose objective is to promote initiatives and actions aimed at helping countries in the region meet the goal of reducing their food import bill, which runs to many millions of dollars.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Grenada, also received a donation through the IICA Delegation in Chile, that included seeds of corn, cabbage, lettuce, pumpkin, zucchini, beetroot and watermelon.