Home Top Stories Modern centre for agriculture for Caricom countries to be built in Guyana...
…new Situation Room to provide farmers with real-time data
The regional puzzle is taking shape to achieve mighty food security objectives set out for 2025, and now, Guyana will be home to a new Centre of Excellence, allowing youths both locally and across the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to pursue agricultural studies.
President Dr Irfaan Ali made this announcement when the Agri Investment Forum and Expo opened on Friday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
This undertaking is a combined effort between the Guyana Government and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), where the longstanding Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) will be refashioned into a facility that focuses on “innovation and resilience”.
It comes on the heels of allowing youths to cash in on a piece of the pie in the agri-business framework, by leveraging technology and innovation.
The Head of State divulged, “IICA and the Government of Guyana has agreed that we will develop a Centre of Excellence for our young people in the field of agriculture here in Guyana for across the Region. The Guyana School of Agriculture will be transformed into IICA-Guyana Centre of Excellence for studies in the field of agriculture.”
Coming out of his recent visit to Costa Rica, it was agreed that youths within Caricom will be visiting the IICA Headquarters to receive training at their innovation centre.
The Guyanese Head of State also announced several new projects in the pipeline, pivotal in ensuring that Caricom does not decelerate its current pace to achieve food security.
Guyana will also be leading the development of a regional “Situation Room” here, serving as a data analytics centre to provide “real-time” data to farmers and thereby influencing their decision-making.
“It will be the development of a Caricom Situation Room that will [provide] real-time data to our farmers to all evidence-based decision making and more proactive planning in terms of our crop development and growing…All of this would add to the rich set of policies we have for young people,” he analysed.
Meanwhile, through ExxonMobil and the Greater Guyana Initiative, a hydroponics project to the tune of US$4.5 million will be launched in the coming days. The programme forms part of the President’s Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme (AIEP) and will be owned and operated by 300 youths from Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) being part owners of the company.
“There has never been such an exciting time for agriculture and development in our country than we have today. Young people should be enthused with what is ahead of you. You should be excited about the prospects of Guyana. We as policy makers and companies with social responsibilities must create opportunities in which you can actively participate and realise your own potential.”
Another programme in collaboration with Canada will allow employment of at least 3000 youths in the technological fields.
“By the time we get to 2030, the modern, innovative farms that will address the issues of resilience and sustainability must be owned by young people and women. That is the direction which we are going,” President Ali asserted.
Real opportunities
The introduction of corn and soya will see Guyana being self-sufficient in these crops by 2025. While Government seeks to rebuild the corn and coffee industry, more than 3000 acres of land has been allotted for coconut cultivation. Wheat and millet trials are now being rolled out to assess the viability.
Additionally, the use of shade house technology, investments and diversification of livestock, projects in fisheries continue to reap successes. All of these projects, the Head of State underscored, creates real opportunities for people.
“It is going in creating real opportunities for Guyanese all across our country. That is where the investment is going; creating wealth, advancing the diversification of our economy, building our productive capacity, developing the regional food hub, moving towards agro-processing, the creation of a food value chain.”
Guyana is hosting the second edition of the Agri Investment Forum, where over 150 foreign and local exhibitors and 80 agro-processors will be showcasing their products and services until the curtains close on Sunday.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha noted that this event represents a profound commitment to the future of agriculture in the Caribbean and opens the doors for diversification.
Mustapha outlined, “It’s a way of life, an economic pillar and a source of sustenance for people. Thus, our pursuit of investment in agriculture is a pursuit view of resilience, prosperity and security…The Government of Guyana is fully committed to this cause. We recognise that diversification is key to unlocking the true potential of the agriculture sector.”
Golden opportunity
Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary General of Caricom, Armstrong Alexis said this attention to agriculture has fostered increased cross-border investments, adoption of a new game-changing regional agricultural policies, and increased the budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector in every country. At the same time, time is ticking to transform the food systems in wake of climate change, growing populations, and a shift in demand.
“With these achievements as a backdrop, we are confident that this event will respond to the needs of our Region, while contributing to the transformation of the agri-investment sector. We can affirm that the political will continues to exist, and all stakeholders, including the private sector, remains steadfast. Despite our achievements so far, however, there remains the imperative to fully transform our food systems.”
The world’s food production needs to increase by 70 percent by 2050 to feed the growing population, which the Deputy SG labelled as a ‘golden opportunity’ to foster innovation and transformation by offering technological solutions which will help to drive or maintain the necessary levels of production. (G12)
