As part of President Irfaan Ali’s agriculture and food security initiative, $75 million in agricultural equipment and materials were handed over yesterday to the Ministry of Agriculture by the Finance Ministry.
The items included shade mesh, plain wire, mist blowers, shade house plastic and mesh, knapsack sprayers, water pumps, fertilisers, garden hoses, cutlass files, spades, brush cutters, wheel barrows, gloves, shovels, watering cans, as well as over 12,500 coconut seedlings and 20,200 fruits and ground provision seedlings.
These are expected to be distributed by the Ministry of Agriculture to farmers in various regions across the country.
“It would be recalled that upon President Ali’s assumption of office in August 2020, Guyana very shortly thereafter resumed our role as holding the agriculture portfolio in the CARICOM /Quasi Cabinet arrangement, meaning that we are now the lead country on agriculture and food security matters, and President Ali has been advancing this Caribbean agenda for food security in a very aggressive way… to the extent in fact that coming out of the recent Summit of the Americas… a special committee was established,” Minister of Finance Ashni Singh said. He said that the items also represent a “significant contribution” as part of the initiative of the United States/CARICOM committee which was established to address food security.
“Guyana has been identified in fact to Co-Chair the committee that is addressing food security and the Foreign Secretary is Co-Chairing the committee -The US/CARICOM Food security committee. But apart from the discussions and the work that we are doing to address food security at a macro level, at the national, regional and international level, agriculture and food production go to the core of the well-being of our communities,” Singh added.
Mustapha, thanked Singh and the Ministry of Finance as well as the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) for providing the Ministry of Agriculture with the much needed equipment and materials.
“This will help us to implement the programmes that the Government is rolling out throughout the country and is testimony to the government’s commitment,” Mustapha underscored.
According to the release, the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) BNTF programme is one of its key instruments for addressing poverty reduction in the Caribbean region. The programme provides access to basic public services through the provision of social and economic infrastructure and the development of skills to enhance employability, community management and engagement. The programme targets the reduced incidence of economic and social vulnerability among the poorest populations in participating countries. It is jointly funded by the CDB and the Government of Guyana.
