Suriname to boost its agricultural productivity with USD 30M IDB financing

The second component of this project will improve Suriname’s Agricultural Information System by enhancing the quality and availability of data, and by strengthening the operational and analytical capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Division of Agricultural Statistics.

Relying on US$30 million in financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the objective of the Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Program (SU-L1052) is to increase agricultural productivity in Suriname through investments in infrastructure and management of Irrigation and Drainage (I&D) systems and by improving the quality and availability of agriculture statistics.

The project will directly benefit 2,200 small and medium farmers belonging to local water boards as well as numerous other farmers.

Improving agricultural statistics and information systems is essential to increase the quality and availability of information on the different parts of the agricultural sector in Suriname, including irrigated agriculture.

The latest agricultural census in Suriname was conducted in 2009. Since then, substantial changes may have occurred in the sector resulting in outdated data.

The first component of this project will fund improvements to the operation and management of Irrigation and Drainage (I&D) systems in Suriname, particularly in Nickerie District, by addressing current failings in infrastructure and transferring key management and maintenance responsibilities to farmers organized in water boards.

This component is expected to contribute to increasing productivity among producers of irrigated areas, and at the same time, improve water management and use within I&D areas.

The project will seek to enhance the capacity of government institutions in charge of irrigation, water distribution and resource administration by including measures to improve the sustainable management of water resources for its different uses.

The second component of this project will improve Suriname's Agricultural Information System by enhancing the quality and availability of data, and by strengthening the operational and analytical capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture's Division of Agricultural Statistics. It is expected that this component will increase the relevance, and therefore the use, of agricultural statistics in public policy.

The project will finance the costs to conduct a new agricultural census, technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture, analysis of the data, and dissemination of results. The agricultural census will provide current, comprehensive, and accurate information for Suriname's agricultural sector.

The project is a specific investment operation with a total cost estimated at US$30 million to be financed with resources from the IDB's Ordinary Capital (OC)under the Flexible Financing Facility (FFF), a grace period of 6.5 years, an interest rate based on LIBOR, and is designed to be disbursed in six years.