Food for the Poor Guyana Inc is currently undertaking a farming project to empower residents in Baramita Village, in Region One.
The eight-week sustainable agriculture project commenced on November 15 and currently, 25 families are benefitting from training in crop cultivation using onsite field training, experiments and analysis.
According to Jonelle De Viera, Public Relations Officer for FFTP Guyana, the project aims to improve food security in the community and to reduce hunger.
Through the project, farmers would be educated on plant husbandry, soil improvement and insect and disease control. The training is currently conducted by John Woolford, who is the consultant for the project.
According to Woolford, who has over 40 years of experience in sustainable agriculture in the hinterland communities, the sessions are very interactive and a practical session was done where a plot of land was also prepared for planting and a demonstration was done.
“The importance of the depth to dig to avoid acid soil was emphasized, how to improve the soil, by using the resources within your environment, how to create a fence with plants you can eat, and the tools to use to increase field productivity while reducing environmental stress,” Woolford said.
FFTP Guyana has donated tools such as forks, hoes, pickaxes, shovels, machetes, and rain boots, to assist the farmers with cultivation.
FFTP Guyana, with funding from Food For The Poor Canada, has been actively involved in building the capacity of the people of Baramita village.
In January 2020, a two-storey multi-purpose building was handed over to the community for technical and vocational training and community gatherings. An interactive learning centre is also being established to promote early and remedial learning. The centre is equipped with workbooks, a smart television, two tablets, learning aids, primary and early secondary textbooks, among other things. Children ages 4-16 will benefit from the resources available in the library, which is set to be formally handed over to the community in the first week of December 2021.
The community has also benefitted from a distribution programme which saw an estimated 90 families recently receiving food items and clothing. In 2020; support was provided to the community to combat the spread of COVID-19. Masks and cleaning items were distributed to over 300 hundred households.
