USAID Proposes the Establishment of 60 Oregano and Citrus Farms in Monte Plata

USAID Proposes the Establishment of 60 Oregano and Citrus Farms in Monte Plata
Santo Domingo, 11/30/2010

With the goal of contributing to the improvement of the standard of living among rural families in the Dominican Republic, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) promoted the establishment of 60 farms that produce organic oregano associated with citrus, in 8 communities in Monte Plata.

The main objective of this is to “contribute to the improvement of the lifestyle of rural families, through diversification of agricultural productions, with low-risk investments, low manpower and good profit margins.”

With the implementation of this project, the USAID, in coordination with the Dominican Union of Crop Rotation Training Schools (UDEFA), installed a green oregano distillery to extract oil. This way, the 60 benefitting producers will diversify their oregano production and will be able to participate in new markets.

Through this initiative, 20 farms with 10 areas each producing oregano and citrus and 40 farms of five areas each became involved and are in the process of incorporating into a cooperative of producers which will allow them to manage their common products.

The main objective of this is to “contribute to the improvement of the lifestyle of rural families, through diversification of agricultural productions, with low-risk investments, low manpower and good profit margins.” This initiative has an investment of 5.6 million pesos, of which USAID has contributed 2.5 million and the rest of the cost is shared by the associates. All together, benefitting from the project, there are 16 women and 44 men. The activity is being carried out in the cities of Yamasá, Bayaguana and Sabana Grande de Boyá, in the province of Monte Plata.

USAID Interim Director, James Watson, said the incorporation of technology was positive and that the practice created a friendly atmosphere for the undertaking of the project. “The main support of USAID is to help the Dominican Republic reduce poverty and I believe that in finding new markets you will be able to move slowly toward that goal by having better living conditions while at the same time generating jobs and productivity in the countryside,” he said.

The province of Monte Plata possesses agricultural conditions to successfully develop oregano and citrus products. Nevertheless, it is one of the provinces with the highest level of poverty in the Dominican Republic. Production of these products and the utilization of this method will permit the benefitting areas to change their social condition.

USAID

USAID, through grants provided under the Rural Economic Diversification Project, supports small, collective investments of up to 2.5 million Dominican pesos to clusters and organizations of producers with the aim of stimulating rural economic diversification. Fifty-one grants have been made through this mechanism to organizations or producer associations for a total of 100.4 million Dominican pesos. For their part, the beneficiary groups have contributed 144.5 million Dominican pesos in cash or goods for a total investment of 244.9 million Dominican pesos.

Beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries of this project are the 60 small producers from the Municipalities of Yamasá, Bayaguana and Sabana Grande de Boyá which are part of the Dominican Union of Crop Rotation Training Schools (UDEFA). The UDEFA is a non-governmental development entity dedicated to the promotion of rural communities in the Dominican Republic through the creation of a central educational network for professional technical training. It enjoys the support of the Institute of Professional Technical Training (INFOTEP) and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID).