The government of the Maldives has signed a USD 1.4 million project with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support local businesses, as well as the agricultural industry of the country.
The Sustainable Economic Empowerment and Development for SMEs (SEEDS) Project is an initiative of UNDP, supported by the government of Japan. The project document was signed by Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail, Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Zaha Waheed and the UNDP Resident Representative in the Maldives Akiko Fuji.
In a press statement, UNDP said the SEEDS project aims to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in the Maldives and will assist at least 2,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Business Center Corporations' outreach initiatives, as well as 250 smallholder farmers to improve food production. UNDP said the project will promote economic diversification through empowered MSMEs and create a new generation of agri-businesses that are innovative, productive and practice environment-friendly agriculture.
Speaking at the function held to sign the project document, Economic Minister Fayyaz said the SEEDS project is an important initiative in the efforts to kick-start the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. The minister noted there is an utmost requirement to strengthen the resilience of the Maldivian economy, especially in primary sectors such as agriculture. He said the project will support the current efforts to strengthen food security, local production and also improve human and technical capacity to reinforce and complement the current recovery roadmap plans.
Meanwhile, Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Zaha Waheed said one of the key challenges faced by the Maldives in terms of agricultural sustenance and growth is the difficulty of transportation of agricultural inputs and produce to markets. The minister noted the Maldives is forced to increase its production to reach targets of import substitution to reduce dependency on imports of agricultural produce. She said in order to face these challenges head on, farming in the Maldives is in need of rapid transformation and incorporation of modern climate-smart practices that require technical precision
The SEEDS project will be implemented together with the Maldives Fund Management Corporation, Agro National Corporation, Business Center Corporation, Housing Development Corporation and Maldives Polytechnic.