As part of the international efforts to help Saint Vincent and the Grenadines recover its agricultural sector, strongly impacted by this year's eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano, this Caribbean country received an important donation of seeds from Brazil, facilitated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The emergency situation in the island nation began in April with the first eruption, which was followed by another 32. The lands closest to the volcano are used for agricultural production and were the most affected by the ashfall. Some 30,000 people had to be evacuated from the area, mostly smallholder farmers who in some cases lost all of their crops and animals.
IICA quickly coordinated a solidarity effort throughout the region, receiving generous responses from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, among other countries.
In the coming days, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will also receive a significant amount of seeds donated by Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, which will be sent to the Caribbean by the White Helmets, a humanitarian aid body of the Argentine Foreign Ministry. From the outset, the White Helmets and IICA have worked together to collaborate in the emergency of this Caribbean country.
A donation from the company Bayer is also expected to arrive shortly from the United States.
On this occasion, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labor of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saboto Caesar, received a shipment of 11,500 packages of seeds from Brazil in the country's capital, Kingstown. The seeds are of 15 different varieties of vegetables, such as lettuce, carrots, squash, watermelon, parsley, tomatoes, radishes, and cabbage.
Minister Saboto explained that the food production sector in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is already recovering from the catastrophe thanks to state aid provided to small farmers, but pointed out that his country still needs international solidarity. Local food production is basically supported by family producers: some 8,000 farmers and 1,500 fishermen are registered in this country.
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