Awake sleeping giant
President David Granger examines the packaging and labels of a product on sale at the RACE on Friday in Lethem, Region Nine (Delano Williams)
President David Granger examines the packaging and labels of a product on sale at the RACE on Friday in Lethem, Region Nine (Delano Williams)

— President urges Region Nine farmers to expand focus on agriculture

REGION Nine farmers must begin to use creativity to market their products to ensure the region’s economy booms, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty, said President David Granger on Friday.
The President was at the time speaking at the Regional Agriculture and Commercial Exhibition (RACE).

RACE was held in Lethem, which was officially declared a town on Friday, as part of the town’s week of activities in celebration of the historic occasion.
During a tour of the exhibition booths, President Granger told exhibitors, regional and municipal officials that much more needs to be done to return the region to an agricultural hub.
He reminded his audience that Region Nine is the largest region in Guyana and noted that there must be a plan of action for regional development, as he called for businesses to work together through the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry and use it as a driving force to develop the regional economy.
“We are opening the door to a new economic future for this great region,” said the head of state, who urged stakeholders to cooperate for the development of the region.
He noted that in many instances, infrastructure has been put in place, but elements are missing, thereby hindering progress.
“There is no doubt that Rupununi has the potential and I would like to urge that the region, central government and the municipal administration here work to overcome some of those problems,” he said.

He also reminded those gathered at the exhibition that Local Government Elections (LGE) were not aimed at just placing a few people in office, but noted that the time is ripe to use the democratic elections to prosper economies.
President Granger made it clear that education remains a powerful tool in diversifying the agriculture sector. He alluded to the fact that many people are trained at the Guyana School of Agriculture and the University of Guyana, but have failed to use their education to advance the sector.
“… we keep training people at Guyana School of Agriculture and UG, but where are they? Are they a part of the farmers, are they producing more crops and livestock in the Rupununi? Are they becoming bureaucrats? They still need the education, it is by education that you could augment production and produce more corn and cassava than your father or grandfather produced; it is by education that you can learn new techniques,” the President stated.

BE COMPETITIVE
As such, President Granger stressed that production must not be looked at in a vacuum and called on exhibitors to be competitive.
“If we are going to be competitive, your presentation, bottling, and packaging have to be at international standards,” he said, while charging farmers and vendors alike to stop using vodka bottles to package items.

“… poor people get poor children and what you have is hereditary poverty. People are going to start getting rich off of agriculture… that will solve the problem,” the President said, while charging the Ministry of Business to work with small entrepreneurs so that their businesses can thrive.
Additionally, President Granger called on the organisers of RACE to address manufacturing and the use of energy-efficient equipment. He spoke specifically to the use of solar power which means that production does not have to conclude in the evening when the sun goes down.

“Solar power is not a toy, it is a tool for development — we need to see huge fields… let the businessmen come on board, get away from the use of gasoline… start using solar power in every single village… simple sealing machines could be used, bottling, labelling machines — by solar energy. There is no need to feel or think that power is something that is unavailable,” he said, noting that he wants to ensure citizens benefit from cheap power.
The APNU+AFC coalition government he stated, is committed to development, but noted that what is needed is investment.

“People have to put their money back into agriculture… that will turn your cycle of poverty away from hereditary poverty to hereditary prosperity.”
There must be innovation, he charged, noting that “we cannot continue doing the same things our parents and grandparents did 40 – 50 years ago. The world is moving ahead and we need to keep abreast with modern technology.”
Meanwhile, Lethem‘s Mayor Carlton Beckles said agriculture is synonymous with Region Nine and noted that the region cannot be developed without it.
“The vast amount of land space we have here and the fertility of the soil, enable us to produce the sort of fruits and vegetables. The Rupununi is the only place where I think that cows choose which type of mangoes it will eat,” said the mayor.

“That is not all, it grieves me every year to see those mangoes go to waste, while we import the tropical rhythm out of Jamaica. Why can’t we can those mangoes and make mango juice or slice; cashew nuts, why can’t we have cashew nut farmers, farming similar to that of rice and then we can have a person processing the cashew nuts to export to North America, Europe and the Caribbean and even to Brazil. It will be fully organic,” Beckles continued.

REVITALISE CATTLE INDUSTRY
The passionate mayor called for the revitalisation of the cattle industry in the Rupununi, but noted that the issue of rustling must be addressed.
He disclosed that during a recent meeting with U.S. Ambassador Perry Holloway, the Rupununi is slated to benefit from some Mustang horses.
“Comrades, we need to revitalise the cattle industry, we can be exporting beef to the Caribbean and other parts of this world because we are free of foot and mouth disease,” said Beckles, who also noted that farine, a main staple in Region Nine, must also be marketed better.
“We need to improve on the presentation of the products we are displaying, so that they will become marketable. We have some lovely products here… look to labelling and packaging,” the mayor remarked.
Similarly, Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Agriculture Committee, Roger King, stressed the importance of agriculture to the development of the region.
“Agriculture is everybody’s business; it is all of us because it is what puts food on our tables, it is what we depend on for human existence. It is the most important aspect of our dear existence.”
King, like President Granger, said Region Nine is poised to lift itself out of poverty and noted that at the RDC, a plan of action is being worked on for regional development. Agriculture forms a critical part of the plan, he said.
“At the RDC, we are working on a plan of action for regional development; agriculture is an important part of that. We have developed the integrated sustainable agriculture development strategy for the Rupununi region that is part of our plans. It has everything that we need to do to move our agriculture industry from the level it is at from where we would like to see it and beyond,” said the official.
He also called for collaboration on every level to ensure progress is made in the agriculture sector in Region Nine. Additionally, King called for policies to be developed to assist Indigenous communities with accessing financing.
He noted that the Indigenous population, which represents about 85 per cent of the Rupununi, lives on titled communal lands.
“We need to develop policies that will help those people; they are the majority of us here. Rupununi is open for agricultural development at every level and scale, but the small farmers are the ones that we have to treat with utmost precaution, the bigger companies or farmers will take care of themselves,” King stressed.
Large-scale farmers, he reminded, have the resources to lobby for their plans or proposals, but “our farmers need a voice; need to be looked at, be appreciated and helped; they have the potential to become just as big as those other players, but we need to develop our policies so we can move agriculture to become a healthy, wealthy and educated Region Nine.”
The chairman of the RDC Agricultural Committee said the turnout at the RACE last week was not as was expected due to the lack of adequate resources to have big farmers from communities like Santa Fe travel to Lethem with their produce.
“We have to continue to grow our agricultural sector in a way that would be sustainable to the culture and traditions of our peoples, because of the dynamics of our peoples,” King concluded.

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