Above: Dominica (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Venezuela’s government is funding the construction of a planned coffee processing plant in Dominica.

Construction on the plant is expected to begin soon, according to the government.

“We expect about 400 persons to be employed in this project either directly or indirectly,” said Agriculture Minister Matthew Walter. “We expect to see about 80 farmers really being involved in coffee production. Certainly now in Dominica we produce about twenty tons of coffee [however] the capacity of the plant is about twenty thousand tons.”
In a release, Dominica’s government said it had been taking steps to prepare local coffee farmers in the country to improve their yields and encourage other farmers to consider coffee production.

“The programme involves the rehabilitation and expansion of current coffee plantations as well as new coffee plantations,” he said.

There are currently about 50 coffee plantations in Dominica, Walter said.