Producers, the Ministry of Agriculture and strategic partners are promoting a project to stimulate the production and marketing of Francique mangos.

Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, with support from the European Union and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, has launched a project costing 1.5 million Euros designed to stimulate the production of Francique mangos.

The implementation of the project was announced in Port-au-Prince, in a communiqué issued jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, IICA and the European Union.

Insufficient amounts of this variety of mango are being produced at present, so actions are being instituted immediately to ensure the sustainability of the product and protect the environment, thereby improving living conditions for the rural population.

Through this project the Ministry, IICA, and the European Union are supporting the local communities and organizations involved in fruit growing. The European Union is financing the effort, which will benefit 12 of the country’s municipal districts during the 30 months that it will take to execute.

The initiative, part of the Development Plan for the region known as the Département du Centers, is being promoted by the European Union and Haiti itself and includes control of the fruit fly. IICA is providing technical assistance.

The specific objective is to achieve a sustainable increase in farmers’ income by strengthening the technical capabilities of the associations of producers of Francique mangoes, to facilitate higher production and reposition the fruit in the market.

The various components to be implemented will focus on capacity building for producers’ organizations, support for fruit growing and the strengthening of marketing, storage and processing, and administrative and management issues.

The aim is to strengthen 100 producers’ associations, raise farmers’ awareness and train 10,200 of them, produce and plant 400,000 mango seedlings, support five production and processing centers, hold 12 training workshops, and organize six exchange visits, one of them abroad.

The project was launched at the beginning of July on the outskirts of the city of Hinche, in an activity involving senior local officials, representatives of farmers’ associations, senior officials from the European Union and members of the cooperation agencies.

More information: alfredo.mena@iica.int