High impact agricultural marketing and production

The Caribbean Financial Services Corporation (CFSC) and a U.S. contractor will implement the project, which will include Quick Response Activities (QRA"s), major subprojects (SP"s), and a core contract. To stimulate smaller-scale private enterprises to fill market niches and to reduce commercial banks" reluctance to lend to small agricultural enterprises, the CFSC will finance QRA"s. Each QRA will provide smaller enterprises with: reimbursable grant and/or equity funding up to $500,000 (grant funds to be used for TA, training, and other non-capital costs); TA in preparing feasibility studies (to be performed by the core contractor, often in conjunction with an outside investor) to meet lender requirements; and supervision, to reduce risk and improve management. Already, 26 potential QRA"s (e.g., cardamon production and marketing in Dominica, winter vegetables in St. Vincent) have been identified. QRA"s will also be available to nonprofit enterprises. Four major SP"s are planned to complete agricultural restructuring. (1) The Cocoa SP will address management, technology, and marketing needs of major producers in the region and of recipients of land under a divestiture "model farm program" in Grenada; a PVO or firm will manage the SP, which will be authorized with the project. The remaining SP"s will be designed and authorized in FY87-FY88. (2) Tropical Fruit will assist private growers" associations in the Windward Islands in marketing and postharvest operations. (3) Leewards Islands Diversification will demonstrate mechanization and commercialization technology for Sea Island Cotton or another exotic crop on Antigua and St. Kitts-Nevis. (4) Regional Mariculture will build on QRA"s to support ocean R&D on, e.g., oyster seedling and sea moss production and fish hatcheries. The core contractor will provide 5 island advisors and a team leader and a marketing specialist (providing investor searches, in which the project complements the Investment Promotion and Export Development Project 5380119, and market connections) in Barbados to conduct feasibility studies and provide supervision for QRA"s; design SP"s; and manage a small-scale research and development activity fund. Studies will be conducted on stimulating private lending to the agricultural sector and on overcoming regional transportation constraints. Amendment of 6/30/88 eliminates major SP"s not yet funded and combines the QRA and core contract components into one activity focused solely on identifying and financing agribusiness investments. The amendment also clarifies the mechanisms being used to implement the QRA component, which is now referred to as the Agricultural Venture Trust (AVT, a newly established agribusiness investment organization). (PD-AAZ-511) Amendment of 6/28/89 extends PACD to 7/15/93 and focuses the project on institutionalization of the AVT, especially by (1) integrating the functions of the core contractor (the Eastern Caribbean Agribusiness Development Company) into the AVT, (2) hiring a retired investment banker to advise AVT on portfolio management and venture capital principles, and (3) increasing emphasis on the monitoring of existing investments. (PD-ABB-037)