The Karasabai Sub-district in Region Nine will be the next area to benefit from the National Hinterland Secure Livelihood Programme, a community development programme which was launched at the National Toshaos Conference in July.
According to a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai made this announcement during a recent visit to several hinterland communities in the South and North Rupununi.
According to GINA, the programme seeks to advance village communities and includes working with individuals and farmers’ groups in developing certain aspects of their livelihood.
These include the technical training of farmers to make them more skilled in dealing with market realities. According to GINA, the aforementioned will empower the farmers against middle men who, the release noted, are aware of certain information. GINA also stated that the programme is expected to help young people to develop skills and to transfer those into various fields.
Sukhai said that the second testing of the programme will be conducted at the Karasabai sub-district, and as the project progresses, other communities will be in line to benefit.
GINA noted that through a supplementary provision for the period July 16 to December 31, 2009, a sum of $88.4 million was approved by the National Assembly for the implementation of programmes in which monies will go towards capital expenditure including an Amerindian Development Fund, office furniture and equipment and current expenditure including transport, travel, and postage and training. Sukhai urged residents to think more deeply and outside their subsistence level, since she noted that the programme focuses on economic activities.
According to GINA, the programme, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in collaboration with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), has targeted 15 communities in Region One.
A team of VSO officers, natives of Nigeria, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Canada represented by specialists in agriculture, aquaculture, pest control, business development, food technology and marketing and finance has been deployed to several communities in the Mabaruma sub-region to assist in promoting developmental initiatives, primarily in the areas of food security and poverty reduction.
The release stated that the team will be in Guyana for a period of two years.
