Government establishes Agricultural Produce Procurement Facility operated by DEXIA
The Government of Dominica has established an Agricultural Produce Procurement Facility, operated by the Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA), to facilitate the purchase of farmers’ produce for export.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Blue and Green Economy and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 to activate the $5 million facility.
The procurement facility will improve the timeliness of payments to farmers and contribute to an increase in agricultural production.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Blue and Green Economy, Hon. Roland Royer said the initiative will also help to enhance the ‘Nature Island brand,’ expand market share locally, regionally, and internationally and increase agro-processing output.
“This procurement facility will grow the farmers’ confidence in the marketplace as we continue to regain our market share in our traditional markets that we lost due to the passage of hurricane Maria. The purpose of this facility is to allow for the payment of farmers’ produce through DEXIA at least 36 hours after delivery.
“The Ministry of Agriculture has articulated its target for a more significant contribution of Agriculture to GDP by 2030. Working closely with the Ministry of Trade and DEXIA, we are confident this facility will provide a gateway to achieve our targets,” he said.
He said the facility was consistent with CARICOM’s goal to reduce the region’s food imports by 25% by 2025.
“Working closely with the supermarkets that are the primary importers of these commodities, the Government of Dominica will provide the necessary technical support and required material to targeted farmers to ensure that there will be a more consistent supply of quality fresh produce.
“Let me take this opportunity to encourage our farmers to continue investing in agriculture and capitalize on the available opportunities to market their produce locally and regionally,” he urged.
Trade Minister, Hon. Vince Henderson said the facility will serve as a line of credit extended to hucksters in good standing with DEXIA.
“What we are looking for is reliability of supply. How this works is that DEXIA buys your plantains or other produce, DEXIA will resell to hucksters and in doing so we will offer a credit facility to those in good standing. Once DEXIA receives the funds from the Ministry of Agriculture it will pay the farmers and producers from whom it has made purchases. These are some of the key things that will help build the market,” he explained.
Minister for Finance, Hon. Dr. Irving McIntyre revealed the facility is funded through a concessionary loan from the World Bank under the Crisis Response Window.
“These funds were secured to restore our production capacities and to enhance marketing arrangements for our farmers and exporters under the Agricultural Livelihoods and Climate Resilience Project in response to the global threat to food security.
“This commitment is a continuation of Government’s effort to improve market access of our fresh produce, build confidence in our farmers, and stabilize their cash flows so they are able to produce consistent supplies to meet domestic food demand on the local, regional and extra-regional scale, meet their personal and family commitments and reinvest on the farm,” Dr, McIntyre stated.
He said the facility is a key tool to reduce the food import bill through joint efforts in the production of onions, white potatoes, leafy vegetables and other crops.
