Weekly Report - 10 February 2011 (WR-11-06)

VENEZUELA | Agriculture plan. More than 150,000 farmers have registered for the government's new farming initiative, Mission Agro Venezuela. Under the enabling act delegating him powers for 18 months to legislate by decree, President Hugo Chávez rushed through a decree to cover the debts contracted by small farmers and fishermen affected by the extensive flooding in late 2010 and to provide new low-interest loans and technical assistance. The government claimed that over 65,000 hectares of productive farmland were affected by the flooding. Not that food production had been dramatically increased before the floods - Venezuela remains as dependent as ever on food imports. The Mission, however, is the latest attempt to increase agricultural production and reduce this dependence.

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