Govt to develop 25 acres of farmland for Baramita residents – Pres Ali announces

– children, teachers to benefit from electronic tablets

In the coming weeks, the Government plans to develop 25 acres of land for residents of Baramita, Region One (Barima-Waini) to produce the main food items that are needed.
This announcement was made by President Dr Irfaan Ali, who visited the village during a two-day outreach to communities along the Guyana-Venezuela border.
While conversing with the residents, the President proposed that his Government provide support to the village and help develop a 25-acre farmland in the community which was received by a resounding assent from the villagers.
“I’m going to ask the army to work with us on this project. The agri corps is going to work with Baramita, with the Ministry of Agriculture, starting next week in developing the 25 acres to provide the main food items that you have here.”

“Including the growing of chicken to help support your village economy. So that you don’t have to import everything,” President Ali told the residents.
However, other concerns raised by residents included transportation woes, school rehabilitation, assistance with satellite communication and the need for eye testing to be done in the community.
The President committed to looking into all these issues raised and in the case of the latter, committed to sending a team from the Ministry of Health into the community shortly.
The President also announced that the children in the village would benefit from 600 electronic tablets, to provide them with internet connectivity.
“I’m so proud of all of you. And because of how proud I am of you… Do you have 519 kids? Including the teachers… and some other students maybe in the community? Before the end of next week, we will send for you guys 600 tablets. So, you will have a tablet each.”

“We will install the internet so you will have internet at the school. And I’m going to host your Christmas party this year,” President Ali said, to cheers from the children present. Additionally, he challenged the teachers in the community to enrol in the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been paying close attention to increasing food security at the local level, community to community, as part of a grand strategy of reducing the Caribbean Region’s large food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025 – which was committed to by Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in August 2022.
In 2012, Caricom’s food import bill was recorded at US$3 billion while in 2016 it was US$2.9 billion. Between the period of 2018-2020, the food import bill was US$13.76 billion, 2018 food imports valued at US$5.03 billion, and 2019 food import valued at US$4.776 billion.
Only last week Friday, farmers of Crabwood Creek, Region Six, received a total of $3 million in agricultural inputs, including farming posts and barbed wire, to construct a fence to prevent cattle from destroying the crops. The items which were handed over included 1500 posts and 160 rolls of barbed wire.
As Guyana continues on its trajectory to have a vibrant and resilient sector, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has reaffirmed that farmers will continue to receive the necessary support and inputs to boost food productivity.
Another example of the work the Government is doing to boost agriculture at the community level, is the community of Mara, on the East Bank of Berbice, which is expected to undergo massive agricultural development, including new crops and the opening of new land for cultivating rice, as part of the Government’s commitment to the residents.