High goals for agriculture

Lifting 190,000 people living in the countryside from extreme poverty; generating 40,000 new jobs, and raising agricultural imports by $ 2 billion is the aim set by the Government for the agricultural and livestock sector in the country.

This objective, according to Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Vanessa Cordero, begins to with the launch of the ‘Gran Minga Agropecuaria’ (Great Agricultural Community Labor), which starts this weekend. This program is based on nine axes (see infographic), whose aim is to provide access to productive resources and the local and international market, to achieve a socio-economic development, and ensure the safety and food sovereignty in the country.

Cordero emphasized that the beneficiaries of the program will be the small and medium farmers, who represent 80% of the agricultural sector nationwide. Nevertheless, she stressed that the program would not “leave out” large producers.

$ 2.56 billion will be allocated to the “minga,” and loans will be smooth and efficient, with preferential single-digit interest rates. According to sources from the Ministry, this rate would be 2.8% at a five-years term. (I)