Plan to Revive Hurricane-Battered Nutmeg Industry in Grenada

"The destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan was a great tragedy for Grenada. The action plan presents a new beginning for the nutmeg industry and has the potential to create wealth and generate jobs for the citizens of Grenada."

Grenada's nutmeg industry, a major income earner for the country, was devastated in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. The Commonwealth action plan covers replanting, the processing and development of nutmeg-based products, market and export promotion activities, and institutional changes.

"The destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan was a great tragedy for Grenada. The action plan presents a new beginning for the nutmeg industry and has the potential to create wealth and generate jobs for the citizens of Grenada," said the Deputy Secretary-General.

The plan was developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat in co-operation with the Indian Institute of Spice Research, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation following a research visit last year by a team of experts.

Mr Cox, who is in Grenada for the biennial Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) Caribbean Regional Consultation from 25 to 27 January, met the Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Lennox Andrews, and the Chief Executive of the Agency for Reconstruction and Development, Richardson Andrews, to review the Secretariat's programme of assistance to Grenada, including the Government's post-Hurricane Ivan economic recovery programme.

After the extent of destruction by Hurricane Ivan was assessed in 2004, the Secretariat put together a three-year assistance package valued at £1 million (EC$5 million) from 2004 to 2007, aimed at helping Grenada rebuild its shattered economy. The package included technical support for rehabilitating infrastructure, principally in planning for and implementing the reconstruction of schools, public and historic buildings, and roads. Assistance was also provided to strengthen institutional support for the Ministry of Works, Communications and Transport and capacity-building for national and external debt management.

The development of a national export strategy to promote economic diversification and an emergency post-disaster scholarship and skills development programme were also part of the assistance programme.

Hurricane Ivan, which swept over Grenada on 7 September 2004, left 29 people dead and damage estimated at US$815 million -- which represented some 200 per cent of the country's gross national product. About 80 per cent of housing stock was damaged, and there was severe infrastructural damage to education and health buildings and to services. The agricultural sector was destroyed, and 90 per cent of forest lands and watershed were damaged or destroyed.

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 269, 25 January 2006

Secretariat Links:

• Country Profile Grenada
• Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC)