Page 12 - Agric Info Newsletter 02 2017

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Arrowroot industry. contracted the International
has a long history of arrowroot The presentation took place at Trade Centre to conduct the
production and export however the Ministry of Foreign Affairs study.
due to a combination of factors Conference Room at 9:30 am. In carrying out the assignment
including low prices, competi- the consultants were required to
tion from bananas and ineffi- The report was the result of a consult extensively with industry
cient processing technology, study which commenced in Sep- stakeholders in St. Vincent and
production and export of ar- tember 2016, when the Govern- the Grenadines giving due re-
rowroot starch declined consid- ment of St. Vincent and the gards to issues of gender equal-
erably. Grenadines sort the assistance of ity, that is, the needs of women
the Caribbean Development
On August 15, 2017, a team of Bank towards the improvement and men in the sector.
consultants from the Interna- of the Arrowroot Industry.
tional Trade Centre presented
the findings of a draft report for Through a grant agreement to the
the improvement of the local tune of US$120,000.00, the CDB

Drying area for Arrowroot production. Presentation of the results from study done on The Ar-
rowroot production industry.
The study covered the following areas:

 Food safety compliance assessment with a view to determining areas that need
strengthening to ensure that the system is compliant with US and international man-
datory standards for food safety and quality
 Market assessment to explore the possibility of increasing volume, value addition and

farmer incomes
 Technology assessment to improve competitiveness and marketability.