St. Vincent and the Grenadines Launches “Love Box” Initiative

Article Courtesy News784

Sunday, May 10, 2020 — St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to be a leader in the hemisphere in its fight to reduce hunger. The island nation was notably the first OECS Member State to establish a Parliamentary Front against Hunger and Undernourishment.

In 2015, Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, accepted the Zero Hunger achievement award in Rome, Italy from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Zero Hunger Trust Fund continues to deliver to citizens in need. The Government recently launched a “Love Box” initiative to provide support to families which may have experienced food vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting on 11 May, 2020, Langley Park Palletisation Centre, Lauders Agro-processing Plant, La Croix Palletisation Centre and Rose Bank Community Centre will be the purchasing stations for produce from farmers for redistribution.

Farmers will be permitted to come to these facilities and retail produce to persons wishing to purchase.

The SVG COVID-19 Food Producers Care Programme has three main segments which will all be operational from the above four listed locations:

The Establishment of Farmers Markets;
The "Love Box" Initiative; and
Farmer’s Support Company Access to Credit and Grants.

The Ministry of Agriculture will also provide support to these farmers in the areas of food packaging and transportation.

The process of distribution will be managed by churches and civil society organisations working in conjunction with the Ministries of Social Development and Ecclesiastical Affairs. Purchasing and delivery would be done over a 3-day period (Monday to Wednesday) on a fortnightly basis.

Minister of Agriculture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Hon. Saboto Caesar, noted,

“This project will create a significant internal market for farmers. This marketing and distribution support will ensure that our farmers can increase investment in production at a time when SVG’s request for food to be exported to the region is at its highest.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to export agricultural commodities throughout the region.

The following commodities would be procured at the associated prices:

ITEM	PRICE/LB	PRICE
5 Finger	0.50
Arrowroot starch	10.00
Banana
Green	0.85
Ripe	1.05
Breadfruit	0.80
Butternut Squash	1.50
Cabbage	3.00
Carrot	2.50
Chive	1.75
Coconut
Water	0.60
Dry	0.80
Corn on the cob		1.00 each
Corned Fish	12.00
Cucumber	1.50
Dashseen	1.20
Eddoes	1.50
Egg		15.00/flat
Ginger	3.00
Guava	1.00
Lemon	2.00
Mango (non-julie)	0.55
Melon	2.00
Passion Fruit	1.60
Pawpaw	1.00
Pepper
Hot	1.40
Sweet	4.50
Plantain
Green	0.80
Ripe	1.00
Pumpkin	0.80
Soursop	1.50
Sugar Apple	1.50
Sugarcane		4.00/length
Sweet Potato	1.20
Tania	1.80
Tomato	3.00
Turmeric	1.50
Wax Apple	0.50
Yam	2.00