Consultations have been held across the regions to encourage individuals and farmers to ‘Grow More Food’ to satisfy local consumption and to boost the quantity of food exported to countries suffering shortages.
Presidential Advisor on Sustainable Development Navin Chandarpal told Diamond/Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara residents that the Caribbean “recognises that Guyana has the potential to provide a substantial amount of help to the Region by producing and exporting more fruits and vegetables.” The Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) said Chandarpal also told the audience at this consultation that that formed the basis for the ‘Grow More’ campaign executed through the Ministry of Agriculture.
Chandarpal said once production can satisfy local consumption exporters can export greater amounts of food to other countries.
In response, some residents posited that government needs to provide more farm lands and planting materials to assist them. Some also said the administration should also “put soft loans in place to encourage farming without financial difficulties.” Chandarpal assured them that their concerns would be addressed and some farmers are already benefiting from seeds and extension services through the ministry’s five-step plan.
He said too the US$6M Rural Enterprise and Agri-culture Development Pro-gramme aimed at strengthening intermediary service providers and institutions that add value to production and marketing systems has been implemented. Chandarpal said a US$20.9M Agricultural Export Diver-sification Programme aimed at increasing the country’s export growth rate by developing commodity chains of non-traditional agricultural products is also on stream.
Meanwhile, at a consultation with Rosignol, West Coast Berbice residents, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir said “food shortage does not mean less production; rather, there has been an increasing demand for food by certain countries such as China and India.” He said residents should use the current crisis as an opportunity to “go back to the land.”
In response, residents echoed the Diamond residents’ request for more access to, and more equitable distribution of land. They also said more work needs to be done to enhance drainage and irrigation systems and to upgrade access roads to farmlands.
Nadir gave assurances that the agriculture ministry plans to provide equipment to improve access dams in the region.
Residents also said large businesses, such as juice-making factories should establish branches in Berbice to purchase their produce. They also said more education about the opportunities available to farmers should be disbursed, in particular data relating to aquaculture.
Berbicians also voiced concerns about the increase in prices for items that are already costly due to the imposition of the value added tax. In response the minister said government is aware of this issue and plans to deal with it. At a similar consultation held at the Leonora Primary School, West Coast Demerara, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh said Guyana cannot turn a blind eye to the problems of the world. He said citizens must be cognizant of the global food shortage and that individuals must plant for their consumption and farmers must expand their cultivation. “Government has been proactive. We have taken steps to cushion the impact… [but] “we are still seeing some pass through and increases in prices on the domestic market.”
Singh also said steps taken must not only be about government policies but the country needs to return to producing food. According to GINA the consultations were part of a countrywide exercise aimed at mobilising communities to respond to the crisis, which efforts the government will supplement.
The agriculture ministry’s ‘Grow More’ initiative intends to persuade farmers and individuals to produce food for their personal and local consumption so the country can better serve export markets.
