Food Security Initiative: Finance Minister hands over $75M in equipment, materials to Agri Ministry

As part of the Food Security Initiative launched by President Dr Irfaan Ali, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on Wednesday handed over $75M in agricultural equipment and materials to the Agriculture Ministry in a simple handing over ceremony done at the Agriculture Ministry’s Boardroom.

The equipment and materials are part of Guyana’s Agriculture and Food Security Initiative, the country’s lead role in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Region.
The items handed over included shade mesh, plain wire, mist blowers, shade house plastic and mesh, knapsack sprayers, water pumps, fertilisers, garden hoses, cutlass files, spades, brush-cutters, wheel barrows, gloves, shovels, water cans as well as over 12,500 coconut seedlings and 20,200 fruit and ground provision seedlings. These are expected to be distributed to farmers in various regions across the country.
While handing over the materials and equipment, Minister Singh pointed out that distribution of the items countrywide, which would ultimately be done by the Agriculture Ministry, forms part of the much larger initiative that Government is rolling out to address the advancement of agriculture and food security.
“It would be recalled that upon President Ali’s assumption of office in August 2020, Guyana very shortly thereafter resumed our role as holding the agriculture portfolio in the Caricom quasi-cabinet arrangement, meaning that we are now the lead country on agriculture and food security matters, and President Ali has been advancing this Caribbean agenda for food security in a very aggressive way…to the extent, in fact, that coming out of the recent Summit of the Americas, where a special committee was established,” Dr Singh explained.
He noted, too, that the items also represent a significant contribution as part of the initiative of the United States/Caricom Committee which was established to address food security.
“Guyana has been identified, in fact, to co-chair the committee that is addressing food security, and the Foreign Secretary is co-chairing the committee – The US/Caricom Food Security Committee. But apart from the discussions and the work that we are doing to address food security at a macro level, at the national, regional and international levels, agriculture and food production go to the core of the well-being of our communities,” the Finance Minister reiterated in reminding those at the ceremony that agriculture has historically been the mainstay of Guyana’s economy, with tens of thousands of families deriving their economic livelihood from the sector.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Ministry, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha thanked the Ministry of Finance as well as the Basic Needs Trust Fund for bringing into the Ministry of Agriculture the much valuable equipment and materials.
“This will help us to implement the programmes that the Government is rolling out throughout the country, and is testimony to the Government’s commitment,” Minister Mustapha underscored.
The Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB’s) Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) programme is one of its key instruments for addressing poverty reduction in the Caribbean region. The programme provides access to basic public services through the provision of social and economic infrastructure and the development of skills to enhance employability, community management, and engagement. The programme targets the reduced incidents of economic and social vulnerability among the poorest populations in participating countries.
The BNTF programme in Guyana is jointly funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana. BNTF’s Implementing Agency (IA) Guyana began receiving country project grants from the Caribbean Development Bank’s Third Programme (BNTF 3) in 1993, and has continued to benefit.