KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Agro Investment Corporation (AIC) will be providing substantial grants to small farmers through the Southern Plains Agricultural Development (SPAD) Project.

Making the disclosure at the 69th Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, held on Monday at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said farmers should contact the AIC for details on the matching grants.

“This groundbreaking initiative is designed to empower and uplift small farmers by providing them with up to 80 per cent of essential resources towards their farming enterprise,” the Prime Minister told the audience.

The major objective of the project is to upgrade the irrigation and drainage networks, roads, and post-harvest handling facilities on 795 hectares of Government-owned lands in Amity Hall and Bridge Pen, St Catherine, and Parnassus in Clarendon.

“I want to encourage our small farmers who are going to seek to participate in the agricultural opportunities that the AIC will provide, to go there now and find out how you can benefit from this matching grant scheme,” Holness urged.

The initiative is being funded through a grant of approximately £16.7 million from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF) and is being administered by the Caribbean Development Bank.

The AIC is an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and is on a mission to contribute to a viable and sustainable agricultural sector and socio-economic development by mobilising finance, promoting investment and by providing marketing intelligence, land, infrastructure and support services.

– JIS