Agriculture Ministry Updates Strategic Development Plan

The Ministry of Agriculture, in a recent conference, officially began the process of updating the Strategic Development Plan in the Agriculture and Farming Sector with the goal of increasing the food security and export capacity of these sectors in the Dominican Republic.

The conference, which lasted two days, was directed by Agriculture Minister Salvador (Chío) Jiménez, who led workers in discussions about formulating new public agricultural polices to be applied for the upcoming 2010-2020 period.

The conference, which lasted two days, was directed by Agriculture Minister Salvador (Chío) Jiménez, who led workers in discussions about formulating new public agricultural polices to be applied for the upcoming 2010-2020 period.

Minister Jiménez stressed the sector’s achievements and level of participation of dozens of technicians and functionaries who took part in the workshop.

Paíno Abreu, Administrator of the Agriculture Bank (Banco Agrícola), attended the opening event. Mr. Abreu spoke about the financial situation in the farming sector and gave details about the Bank’s plans for increasing the availability of resources for farmers and producers.

Héctor Rodríguez Pimentel, Director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute (IAD in Spanish), introduced programs that will be carried out to help increase production and productivity within the framework of the Agrarian Reform.

In accordance with the Agriculture Ministry, the strategic plan aiming to increase agricultural development will be carried out with the cooperation of the leadership of the national agriculture and productive sector.

One of the issues that circulated throughout the 2-day conference was the country’s capacity to establish strategic food reserves, increase exports, generate more earnings and jobs and the development of actions that will improve the general conditions in rural areas.

Agriculture Minister Jiménez explained that the workshop’s objective was to update the Strategic Development Plan in the Agriculture and Farming Sector and to establish policies that will be applied over the coming ten years.

On the first day of the workshop, various speeches were given on the conceptual framework of the goals, projects, programs and operations. These served as a point of reference for the second day where participants sat down and worked on updating the strategic plan.

Jiménez commented on the quality of the debates, announcing that the results will be presented to the production and agricultural sectors as well as international cooperation organizations as part of a socialization process that will be announced very soon.