Technological changes most important challenge to agri sector – Mustapha

…must be addressed if Guyana is to compete with advanced nations

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has announced Government’s initiatives to ensure that agriculture remains relevant, as the oil economy stands poised to make a positive impact on the country’s growth.
He shared these sentiments during the FAO’s Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean as part of the “Hand-in-hand towards prosperous and inclusive rural societies” initiative.
Mustapha acknowledged that the availability of this vast revenue presents a challenge to the traditional agriculture sector, as it is expected to influence the labour supply, wage and exchange rate. This is linked to impacting the competitiveness of the tradeable sectors, including rice and sugar.
As a result, he stated, “Government of Guyana is working towards developing better functioning institutions, training the labour force, and diversifying the agriculture-based economy. Changes in markets with greater access requirements, the accelerated pace of technological transformations, and demands for knowledge and management skills impose new challenges for our farming population.”
Technological change is one of the important challenges to be addressed if Guyana is to compete with advanced nations, especially in crops and livestock research initiatives which speaks to artificial insemination and genetic improvements. Additionally, he said technical cooperation would be welcomed as technological changes serve as an engine transformation for rural development.
The Minister went on to say that economic growth in agriculture is about three times more effective at reducing poverty and food insecurity than growth in other sectors.
“As most of our poorest and hungriest live in rural areas and are involved in agricultural activities. Investment in agriculture is therefore critical for the resuscitation of rural livelihoods in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and enabling the rural economy to recover. We must work together, towards ensuring that there are sustainable agriculture policies and measures that contribute to poverty reduction in our rural communities.”
For this to materialise, improving farmers’ livelihoods in rural areas and diversifying the rural economies through the enhanced competitiveness of the agriculture sector is a priority of the Agriculture Ministry. This requires collaborations with the public sector, Private Sector, and international organisations to implement programmes that will increase agricultural productivity and income of farmers.
“In order to make informed policy decisions for prosperous and inclusive rural communities, improving agricultural and rural statistics is a priority of the Government of Guyana. The Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana is therefore committed to working with the FAO to prepare a Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics,” Mustapha pledged.
In Guyana, Agriculture Month is observed in October, this year our theme is “Investing in Agriculture for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development.” The Minister said one of the key components to strengthening the rural development agenda is the strengthening of budgets for inclusive and sustainable rural development.
“Investment in the development of public goods such as agricultural mechanisation, innovation, infrastructure, technical assistance, and access to farm to markets in rural areas is important for development. Realistically, it is not feasible for a Government budget to sufficiently finance all the projects necessary. Therefore, increased investments through enhanced international cooperation with organisations such as the FAO are welcomed.”
Some measures which have been undertaken to create an enabling business environment for the Private Sector is the reduction of burdensome taxes and other budgetary support.

Poverty reduction
As a poverty alleviation measure, he told the conference the PPP/C Government has committed to investing in the sugar industry, reopening the closed sugar estates, bringing the industry to a break-even point, and creating many socio-economic benefits for the thousands of persons that will be re-employed.
“The Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana agrees with the FAO that the vision of the agricultural sector, as a generator of employment, must be expanded to involve related value-added sectors in food production, processing, rural services, and market access, and that these should be supported by policies that stimulate their growth through innovation and investment,” the Minister said. (G12)