“We will be giving you the necessary help” – Agri Minister to Berbice farmers

…as Govt gears up to launch aquaculture masterplan

A team led by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha recently visited Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), where they engaged shrimp farmers on Government’s plans which will see massive development in the aquaculture industry. The visit aimed at assessing the needs of farmers since President Dr Irfaan Ali recently announced that an aquaculture masterplan will be launched shortly.
“When we look at it, we do not have an [aquaculture] industry in our country. We have to put in a lot of work. We have to ensure that we have the necessary funding and we have to ensure that we have the necessary skills/personnel to develop this industry. The aquaculture industry is a very lucrative industry where we can tap into markets in the Caribbean and North America,” Mustapha said.
According to him, China and India are the major suppliers of aquaculture produce to North America. Since Guyana, according to him, is positioned in a very strategic position, once it develops its aquaculture industry it can begin trading with countries in the Caribbean and South, Central, and North America.
He added that given the geographic boundaries Guyana shares with these countries, “we have an advantage in exporting to North America in real-time.” For instance, he said that produce from Guyana can be in North America within five hours, as opposed to within 24 hours for China and India.
The Agriculture Minister said that Guyana is looking to increase its annual shrimp production from 150,000-200,000 kilogrammes to 500,000 kilogrammes. Given that Region Six produces the bulk of that amount, Mustapha told farmers, “we want to organise you, we want to help you enlarge this industry.”
He continued, “We will be giving you the necessary help. This does not mean that we will give money. We want to help develop your farm in a better way. We are looking to supply you with fingerlings, we are looking to give you feed to use in the pond so that we can develop and improve the shrimp industry.”
Moreover, he added that the Ministry will also be building a registry for shrimp farmers which will assist them in finding markets for their produce, among other things.
Emphasising that the agriculture sector is important, Minister Mustapha noted, “The agriculture sector is here to stay. You have oil and gas [but] sometime down the road will finish. We recognise that as a Government we cannot neglect this sector. Over the years, we have seen countries that had oil neglect their agriculture sector and now they have to start rebuilding. We don’t want to make those mistakes.”

Wealth
Guyana has already been paid millions for its recent oil lifts and Mustapha reiterated that Government has not used a cent from those monies since it wants to ensure the country’s traditional sectors, including rice and sugar, are developed, “so that we can create wealth, jobs, and food security for the region.”
He said that Guyana is currently heading a task force of Agriculture Ministers from across the Caribbean. The task force, he revealed, is tasked with coming up with ideas to ensure the development of agriculture in the region and trading among countries. He added that the task force will also deal with problems affecting Guyana’s export market.
According to the Minister, the President has set up a committee consisting of experts in the aquaculture industry who will develop plans and programmes. Apart from this, he added that he has also written to the Government of India, requesting help with technical skills. “We have requested three technical persons and [India] have agreed to send them. They should be here in a matter of months.”
“We are looking at getting large acreage of lands. The [Guyana Lands and Survey Commission] will be a part of this plan as well as the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary-Agricultural Development Authority. When you look at West Coast Berbice in Region Five, there are a lot of lands on the northern side over on the public road where we can develop the aquaculture industry.”

Masterplan
Climate change and the changing landscape of the fisheries industry led Government to think outside the box, with the announced move to transition to an aquaculture-based operation.
President Ali announced that strategies are in place to undertake this and will be supported by a masterplan. He said that the Government is placing all emphasis on sustainability in the industry, and the move to aquaculture will cushion some of the challenges being experienced due to climate change.
“We’re working on a sustainable pathway for the industry. Our focus is transitioning into aquaculture because there’re many different challenges outside of the control of policy as a result of climate change and the change in dynamics in the sector itself,” Dr Ali shared.
The Head of State had said that capacity building and investments are essential at this point. These and other aspects will be penned in Government’s masterplan for the sector.
“We have to look at ways in which we can build capacity and expand capacity to expand the sector. Investment in aquaculture and support for this is what we’re focusing on now. Very shortly, we will address all of those issues in the context of the aquaculture masterplan that we will launch very soon.” (G1)