Dale Forde is one of a number of farmers from various areas of coastal Guyana who credit the Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL) project with seeing her through some of the toughest times she has had to face.
It was the Canadian-funded project that stepped in to bring her plantain crop relief from the dark days of the Black Sigatoga disease, as it strove to realize its mandate of helping farmers in the region become more efficient and increase the value of Caribbean fresh produce, in effect, rendering them more accessible to the high value intra and extra regional markets.
PROPEL is utilizing a Cdn$100 million grant over six years. After the outbreak of Black Sigatoga, the Government of Guyana had collaborated with St Lucia to develop in an effort to fashion a broader response to the malady.