New Zealand and the FAO collaborating to support Dominican Republic agriculture

Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis - 2 October 2025

New Zealand and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have formalised their collaboration in the Dominican Republic. Witnessed by New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Caribbean, Her Excellency Linda Te Puni, FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean, Dr Renata Clark, signed an agreement on collaborating to help small scale livestock farmers improve productivity, climate resilience and contribute to mitigating enteric methane emissions. This includes the provision of training for extension providers to be able to promote practices and support the transfer of technologies to farmers. The activities are co-funded by the FAO and the New Zealand government.

The project is delivered in the Northwest region of the Dominican Republic, border area with Haiti, encompassing the provinces of Valverde, Santiago Rodríguez, Montecristi, and Dajabón. Regarding food security, two provinces are in Phase 3 of food insecurity, indicating that 20% of their population is in a food crisis, while Santiago Rodríguez and Dajabón have 15% of the population in this situation. In general, the macroeconomic situation estimates that nearly 30% of the population is in general monetary poverty. The outcomes of this project help chart a path out from this insecurity.

The project maintains a data sharing connection with another NZCSA Initiative project that is strengthening the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sectors of the SICA region. It ensures regional information on production practices and animal parameters from this project contribute to the national inventory data requirements and the national MRV system for the Dominican Republic under the SICA region project.