“We’re going to support you” – President Ali to Region 9 communities on food security

With food security high on the Government’s agenda, President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that the Agriculture Ministry will be working community to community, to boost their food production.

He said this while addressing a crowd of residents from St Ignatius and neighbouring communities, in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) over the weekend. Impressing on them the importance of food security, President Ali said that his Government is already hard at work in the region on a community-to-community basis.
“We are working with many communities in Region Nine, to enhance your food production system, to build your capacity, to build your food production system a more structured way, to do it in a more market-oriented way. To improve the conditions under which we do farming and many communities across the region are embracing this new push in terms of agricultural expansion and food security.”
According to the President, staff of the Agriculture Ministry will work with communities, to help to develop their food security strategies in a way that will make their food production both resilient and sustainable.
“We’re going to support you by investing and training, research and development. We’ve already made the decision that we’re going to hire all the graduates from the University of Guyana in agriculture and the School of Agriculture.”
“And we’re going to assign them to communities and Regions, so they could help you in the food production system and developing it in a scientific way,” President Ali further informed the residents.

Breeding rams, breeding bulls
Meanwhile, during a visit to the South Central Rupununi village of Rupunau, President Ali committed that the Government will provide 20 breeding rams and ten breeding bulls to enhance their livestock potential. He also said that the Government will aid in the construction of several homes, while he gave his assurance that the road linking Sand Creek and Rupunau will be completed.
The Guyana Government has been on an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and to up food production. President Ali has said that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent.
Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry to assess and address the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.
The Ministry subsequently formed a National Working Group on Barriers to Trade against Exports from Guyana. According to the assessment on market access by the working group, most of the challenges found were related to technical measures including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It also found several technical and administrative regulations that were all hampering the export of Guyanese products.
Last year, some 112 tractors were procured for distribution in Indigenous communities so that residents can independently maintain their food security. The machinery can also be used in other sectors to push economic growth.
At the time, Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai had outlined some of the projects on stream for villages, especially those that have been gravely impacted by the coronavirus. She had explained that these initiatives are aimed at strengthening the food security in Amerindian villages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with new investments in the agriculture sector.
“The food security of the Amerindian communities will be supported and sustained during the long challenge that we are facing with respect to the pandemic. In so doing, we have invested in the procurement of 112 tractors, which will go to the Amerindian villages that do not have tractors. These machineries will be used in the agriculture sector, forestry sector, and the transport sector; enhancing and embracing the development of these sectors in the various hinterland and Amerindian communities,” Sukhai had told a group of Toshaos.
The Minister had also indicated that upon assuming office in 2020, resources were immediately deployed by the PPP/C Government to North Pakaraimas and other areas, owing to shortages. Since then, several regions have benefitted from assistance. (G3)