Newly appointed Saamaka Paramount Chief, Albert Aboikoni makes courtesy visit to IICA Delegation in Suriname

Paramaribo, Suriname, August 27, 2018. The newly appointed Paramount Chief of the Saamaka Maroon community in Suriname, Gaama Albert Aboikoni paid a courtesy visit to IICA following his formal appointment by the President of the Republic of Suriname, His Excellency Desiré Delano Bouterse, on Sunday, August 12, 2018.  ‘Gaanman or Gaama’ is the traditional title used by the ethnic Maroons in Suriname to denote the highest authority of their ethnic group. The Saamaka Maroons are mainly located in villages along the Upper Suriname River.

The IICA Representative and the Gaama renewed their commitment to continue working jointly towards sustainable agricultural and rural development of the Saamaka Maroons.

IICA is currently executing a System of Rice Intensification (SRI) initiative in upland rice involving a number of Saamaka villages in the Upper Suriname river, as well as agroprocessing and organizational strengthening interventions to strengthen rural women producers, and the promotion of technologies and strategies to facilitate indigenous communities to move from traditional Shifting Cultivation agriculture production systems, to more sustainable sedentary agriculture production systems and installing low-cost potable rainwater harvesting systems for Saamaka villages.

Gaama Albert Aboikoni expressed his deepest gratitude to IICA for its continued support and his appreciation for the participatory and collaborative approach adopted by IICA bringing together, NGO’s, community based organizations, public and private sector rural service provider agencies and academia to find solutions to the challenges in agriculture and rural development faced by his people.

For more information

Curt Delice

Representative of the Delegation in Suriname

curt.delice@iica.int