By the Caribbean Journal staff

The new Grenada Market Access and Rural Enterprise Development Programme aims to tackle poverty in the country’s rural communities, according to Environment and Foreign Trade Minister Joseph Gilbert.

“The MAREP offers us an opportunity to reduce poverty,” said Gilbert, who is also MP for St Patric West. “The programme will contribute to the development of our vulnerable, young unemployed or self-employed men and women in 50 rural communities throughout Grenada and Carriacou.”

The programme aims to reduce reliance on food imports by improving the country’s agricultural sector, particularly in the production of honey production and other agribusiness.

“We must give the necessary hand-up to our people to become more self-reliant,” Gilbert said. “We are determined to support all Grenadians who require the tools that will lift their standard of living, improve their social conditions and help them stand on their own two feet.”

According to a recent report, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 represent 42 percent of unemployed people in Grenada; young men represent 47.6 percent.

The programme is supported by the Caribbean Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.