Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has said that the involvement of women in agriculture in Guyana, which is central to the livelihood of rural communities, will advance the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing poverty and food insecurity. The Minister expressed this view Saturday at the Annual General Meeting of the Rural Women’s Network (RWN), which promotes the sustainable development of groups of rural women and their communities, at the Cheddi Jagan Research Institute – Red House, Kingston.
“It is evident that women play a central role in our society,” he said. “Rural women produce half of the world’s food and, in developing countries, between 60 and 80 per cent of food crops.”
The Agriculture Minister explained that in Guyana, there is recognition of the fact that any strategy aimed at poverty alleviation and agricultural development must ensure that women are included, either as part or even as drivers of the process, if it is to be successful.
He said, “This Government is cognizant of the fact that maximizing the impact of agricultural development on food security entails enhancing our women’s roles as agricultural producers as well as primary caretakers of their families.”
Persaud added that this is why his ministry’s Agricultural Diversification Strategy has a distinct gender focus.

Support

He explained that a principal objective of the Agricultural Diversification Strategy is to improve the living conditions of poor and rural households, especially small-scale producers and vulnerable groups, increasing their human, social, organizational and financial assets.
“This objective can only be accomplished with a carefully integrated approach which focuses on delivery and maximum impact,” Persaud said.
The Agriculture Minister stated that assistance, financial and technical, has been given to the RWN in the interest of developing new markets and rural enterprises, as well as empowering women to take charge of their own futures as well their families’.
He made it clear that many other forms of support are extended to women in Regions Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), Three (West Demerara/ Essequibo), Four (Demerara/ Mahaica), Five (Mahaica/ Berbice), Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) and Ten (Upper Demerara/ Berbice).
“We recognize that together, rural women have a better chance in forming and nurturing strategic alliances with their clients and stakeholders, therefore we are assisting women in organizing themselves better and providing them with support in establishing the necessary relationship with partner organisations and businesses,” Persaud said.
The Agriculture Minister noted that other measures are being put in place to advance the interest of women in agriculture.
“With these projects, we will have enacted what is referred to as a national strategic plan for the empowerment of women through agricultural trade,” he posited.
Persaud made it clear that success will be as a result of strengthening and empowering organisations and livelihoods of each and every woman in every rural community of Guyana.
Relative to specific support to the RWN, Persaud said his Ministry is facilitating processes through which the Network can influence and share control over decisions, resources, strategies and interventions for agricultural and income diversification.
“This is done by the appointment of representatives from the Network, the Women’s Affairs Bureau and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs to the Projects Steering Committee,” he said.
Mr. Ignatius Jean, Country Representative for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), also at the meeting, lauded the transparency of the RWN and highlighted the importance of this to partnerships.
“Good governance in organisations is important in forging partnerships,” Jean said.
The Country Representative added that partnerships advance opportunities available to organizations like the RWN and pointed out in particular, training opportunities.
He observed that accessing opportunities for training enables the participants to become a trainer and assist others in the organizations.
The IICA Country Representative pledged his entity’s support for the empowerment of women in rural communities “towards sustainability of their livelihoods.”
Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms. Pauline Sukhai, also outgoing President and one of the founding members of the RWN, expressed appreciation for support from organizations like IICA.
She acknowledged that partnerships increase capacity, assist in institutional strengthening and advance operations in a more sustainable way.
“The RWN, from the outset, sought to articulate and position the economic and social development of hinterland and rural women,” she said.

The RWN

Sukhai said the RWN does not confine its work to encouraging women to participate in productive engagement, but rather it is cognizant of the bigger picture related to hinterland and rural development.
To this end, she made it clear that the Network must continue to mobilize women’s support as development unfolds.
“The Network seeks to achieve benefits for the women. Women need not present themselves as challenged or marginalized when they have an enabled environment,” she posited.
According to the Amerindian Affairs Minister, the RWN will continue to articulate to the women, to recognize and take charge of alternatives and opportunities that exist and be agents of change.
An important aspect of work being undertaken by the RWN, Sukhai said, is the advancement of the Network’s Action Plan.
“It is important for the Network’s actions to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable individuals and groups,” she said.
She highlighted the quest for supporting and facilitating development in the years 2008 to 2009 can be rated as successful.
“In the two years, we had a compact programme. We are still monitoring the successes of our programmes,” she said.
Sukhai noted that primary challenge facing the Network is the need for additional technical skills and she said measures are in place to build this capacity.
As outgoing President, she maintained that her support will always be with the RWN and added that the Network has positioned itself well for future endeavours.
She agreed that efforts to position itself where it is now was a costly undertaking.
In 2008, the financial position of the Network was $1.02M and by the end of 2009 it was reduced to $508,240.
In comparing the financial report for the two years, it was noted that income significantly decreased.
She explained that the expenditure was project related and resulted in returns.
The RWN was established in 1997 and addresses a number of areas in the interest of rural women’s development.
It’s involved in education/training, economic/income generation, women’s issues, HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, health, indigenous people’s issues, counselling, agriculture, welfare and relief, advocacy, student/youth issues, culture and art and housing.