Grenada announces $6.1M relief for farmers devastated by Hurricane Beryl

The government of Grenada announces a financial support to farmers affected by agricultural destruction due to Beryl. The government aims to distribute 6.1 million relief to those severely impacted.

This financial support came into consideration from the damage assessment performed by the Extension and Agronomy Division, which revealed that an alarming level of destruction has been caused island wide.

According to the assessment, more than 85% of the agricultural sector in the areas including St. Mark, St. Patrick, St. Andrew, and Carriacou has been destroyed. This devastation left more than 80% of farmers of these regions helpless due to loss of their livelihoods.

This announcement was made public, by the Minister for Economic Development, Planning, Agriculture and Lands, Forestry, Marine Resources, and Cooperatives, Lennox Andrews. He stated that this project cannot compensate for all the damage caused, however, will provide an assistance to the farmers.

Andrew emphasized that this initiative has been designed in order to provide support just to the farmers and those associated with related activities in Grenada, while highlighting that a separate package will be announced for other severely impacted areas in Grenada.

The relief will be provided to the farmers on the basis of the land they hold and not on other criteria. A registered farmer with less than 5 acres of land will get a payment of $4500, while those with more than that will be eligible for a payment of $9000.

“Provisions have also been designed for those who are not registered with us. These farmers will get a compensation based on the size of the plot ensuring that they receive all the necessary support,” Andrew stated.

The government in total has allocated $6 million for this project and targets 960 farmers across the region. In addition to the support for cash crop farmers, the package also includes a specific allocation for nursery plant managers, who play a critical role in the agricultural sector.

Minister Andrew in regards to this stated that, “We also have the managers of the nursery plant spoons. We have counted 30 of them and they are going to receive a one-off payment of $4,500. So, in total, we have a budget of about $135,000 for these managers of the plant industry. So, in total, the overall allocation for the cash crop farmers and the nursery plant managers is $6.1 million.”

Minister Andrew highlighted the importance of this initiative as the crucial one to stabilize the agricultural sector of Grenada. While addressing, he noted that the road to recovery is long and these initiatives will ease the process.

The government has not yet designated a specific date for the payments and hence has requested the citizens to stay updated until a confirmation for the date of payments is released.