30 March 2011
The United Nations rural development agency is to co-finance a $7.5-million project in Grenada designed to alleviate poverty in the Caribbean country, benefiting an estimated 12,000 members of poor communities on the main island and the isle of Carriacou.

The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide $3 million in loan to the six-year Market Access and Rural Enterprise Development Programme to create jobs, improve market access and support rural micro-enterprise projects in 50 communities, according to an agreement signed in Rome between the Fund and Grenada’s Government.

The Government will provide $2.2 million in co-financing, with the Caribbean Development Bank contributing another $2.3 million. "Despite its relatively high Gross National Income, the rural areas of Grenada still suffer from high levels of poverty," said Jaana Keitaanranta, the IFAD Country Programme Manager for Grenada.