The Ecuador office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), on Thursday, offered to assist small scale farmers affected by the April earthquake in the South American country.
FAO representative in Ecuador, Pedro Pena, said that the programme of assistance would be jointly developed with Ecuador’s Ministry of Agriculture.
According to him, the plan is to help small scale farmers get back on their feet as soon as possible.
“The government asked for emergency help from FAO’s technical cooperation programme to help the farmers’ families recover their sources of income.
“The programme, which is to be run with a budget of 500,000 dollars, is expected to benefit 2,010 families in the western coastal province of Manabi that was worst hit by the earthquake,’’ Pena said.
He said that the farmers in the neighbouring province of Esmeraldas would also benefit from the gesture.
Agriculture Minister, Javier Ponce, said that the programme would contribute to the restoration of community infrastructure for the processing and commercialisation of farm produce.
Ponce said FAO would also offer technical support to enhance institutional capacity to respond to emergencies and manage risks in the future.
On Saturday, Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, said the severe damage caused by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, would reduce Ecuador’s GDP growth this year from one per cent to 0.3 per cent.