NAREI, USAID look to advance climate-smart agriculture in Guyana

With countries of the Eastern and Southern Caribbean (ESC) being highly vulnerable to extreme weather patterns, representatives of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Friday discussed advancing climate-smart agricultural practices in Guyana.
NAREI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jagnarine Singh and Research Scientists David Fredericks and Dr K. Bramdeo led this engagement with the members of the USAID’s Mission in the ESC.
In a social media statement, NAREI explained that the purpose of this meeting was to reduce systemic constraints to climate and disaster financing, and increase investments in resilience across the priority sectors, such as agriculture.
USAID refers to resilience as the capacity of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from, challenges and shocks in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.

Felt through increasing temperatures and extreme weather patterns and events, the negative impacts of climate change are being demonstrated on farms in the form of decreased crop yields, nutritional value and livestock productivity, and increased invasive crops and pests.
In addition to their effect on food security, these changes also have economic repercussions. According to NAREI, estimated damage from storms and hurricanes has ranged from 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to as high as 200 per cent of National Annual GDP from a single event.
Aiming to tackle these challenges, climate-smart agriculture refers to farming methods that aim to increase the resilience and productivity of land affected by climate change.
Notably, NAREI has been engaging in climate-smart agricultural practices through the inclusion of hydroponics, shade houses, and solar dryers within their operation.
Last year, in collaboration with the Guyana Prison Service (GPS), NAREI had even introduced the concept of climate-smart agriculture at the New Amsterdam Prison farm in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), where individuals participated in a one-day training on the use of shade houses, which allow for the cultivation of crops in a controlled environment.
Shade houses allow for a two-week jump in the development of plants and the harvesting process, thereby increasing production and providing better nutrition.
NAREI also previously produced a manual to teach farmers the process of establishing a shade house.
Last March, NAREI further signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) to offer youths and women training in climate-smart agricultural practices.