Above: CARICOM Secretariat headquarters

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana and the CARICOM Development Fund have signed a country assistance programme agreement that will bring $7.32 million into the country’s agriculture sector.

The agreement combines a $4.56 million concessionary loan and a $2.66 million grant. Guyana Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and CDF CEO Ambassador Lorne McDonnough signed the agreement this weekend.

The funding will reportedly help more than 9,000 farming households in Guyana to gain “easier access to farmlands to improve and sustain agriculture production year-round,” according to a CARICOM statement.

Guyana President Donald Ramotar said the funding would “go a long way towards improving the infrastructural development in the agriculture sector.”

That would in turn stimulate and develop production, he said.

Dominica is also set to sign a similar agreement next week, according to the CDF.