Govt working directly with farmers to help stabilise food prices – VP Jagdeo

– says initiatives such as co-investing being pursued across country

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been making specific interventions in the agriculture sector, aimed at helping farmers to increase production and market their goods to stabilise food prices.
This is according to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who gave this reminder amid the ongoing debate over the cost of living. At his most recent press conference, Jagdeo pointed out that while many want increased wages and salaries across the sectors, not as much thought is paid to the input costs farmers incur and their need to also make more money.

“Farmers also have to increase their income. Somehow people have this belief that we can raise all the salaries for everyone but the farmers who work in the fields, they have to keep their prices constant and cheap…as though they must take the hit every time,” Jagdeo said.
“In Guyana, we want to make sure everyone prospers. And that’s why we’re focused intensely on making sure they (farmers) get the help to increase their production. We’re doing something else, which is co-investing in facilities for processing. Because if the farmers can get a steady market, they can ramp up their production.”
The Vice President gave as an example the production of cassava. In case the price of cassava is high, this will cause more farmers to go into cassava production. But he raised the question of what happens if the next crop sees a fall in the price of cassava. This is where co-investing, an initiative the PPP/C Government has been introducing in the farming communities, comes in.
“If you have a guaranteed market, with the cassava production. No matter how much you increase the production, you can still make money. Then it will help to smooth out that. I spoke last week about cassava mills in Region Three.”
“In Black Bush Polder we co-invested in a processing plant that would buy the produce from the farmers to process. We’re doing this all over the country. Working with the farmers,” Jagdeo explained.
In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture had collaborated with local manufacturer UMAMI to open a modern, multimillion-dollar agro-processing facility in Mibicuri, Black Bush Polder (East Berbice-Corentyne (Guyana).
Additionally, the Agriculture Ministry through the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) has also been assisting 100 farmers in Crabwood Creek to cultivate peppers for UMAMI, which then exports these products.
The project was officially launched in May of this year, at Skeldon Sugar Estate Manager’s Club House and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had projected that in less than two months from the launch, farmers could be selling hundreds of pounds of peppers weekly.
Middlemen
Meanwhile, Jagdeo also highlighted the role that middlemen play in driving up costs for consumers, even as they help get the products to the market. He noted that talks have already been had with farmers, for instance those from Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) on how they themselves can market their produce directly to consumers.
“On the middle men, I think if you have better transportation and the farmers are better organised, they can cut out the middle men. I’ve spoken to farmers from across the river, who normally come to Georgetown to sell. And the city council runs them out, because they want bribes.”
“But they come directly with their produce so that their prices would be minus the margin that a middleman would give. And up to recently, we tried to assist them. Because when they come there, the constabulary would go down and harass them and they can’t sell,” the VP said.
Jagdeo related that some supermarkets sell produce at three times the price it could be purchased from the farmers for. This is despite the only difference being the packaging and marketing of the product… hence the importance of ensuring consumers have multiple options to purchase goods.
“So, I guess the point is well taken, that we have to keep working to make sure that the farmers benefit more from any profit. Because they’re working in the fields. And sometimes their margins are very, very slim. And they do the hard work. And the middlemen, they make most of the money.”
The government has made significant steps to keep the cost of living as low as possible, measures that have helped stabilise the cost of utilities and products on the market, even while neighbouring countries feel the squeeze. These efforts have included slashing the price of fuel and spending over $1 billion to purchase fertilisers which it then distributed to farmers.
Since taking office in 2020, the President Dr Irfaan Ali-led Administration has introduced several measures to put more disposable income in the pockets of Guyanese. From the onset, Value Added Tax (VAT) was removed from water and electricity. There has also been an increase in old-age pensions and public assistance, putting billions of dollars into the pockets of the Guyanese. (G-3)