The Caribbean agriculture sector is slated to benefit from a multi-million dollar development assistance package implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), aimed at reducing hunger and improving regional food security.

Director General of the FAO Jacques Diouf, who made the announcement at a meeting with Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson in Doha, Qatar, said the region would benefit from an US$8 million assistance programme to facilitate crop diversification and intensification, the

development of animal husbandry and the promotion of food security.

A second programme to examine issues relating to regional trade will also be implemented,

and the FAO will make available a US$90 million line of credit to the Caribbean Development Bank, for support to the sector.