….at World Food Day observance at St. Cuthbert’s Mission
ENHANCING food security continues to be one of the main priorities of the PPP/C Administration. And to ensure that Guyana is on par with the objective of ensuring that ‘World hunger is eliminated’, the Ministry of Agriculture Saturday observed World Food Day, an annual activity in the Ministry’s calendar of activities for Agriculture Month. This year, St. Cuthbert’s Mission, an Amerindian Community in Region Four, was selected as the location for the observance, which was aimed at stimulating greater food security, while increasing food production.

The day’s activity, which saw an exhibition from agencies such as the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), and the Guyana Forestry Commission, also gave persons an opportunity to learn about traditional Amerindian life and culture.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud , in his feature address, said that Guyana stands ready to positively contribute to eliminating world hunger, noting that the country has been fortunate in that it has been able to become self sufficient.
He indicated that Government has succeeded in eradicating hunger, thus making food affordable, despite the constraints faced with climate change and Guyana’s vulnerability due to its coastland being below sea level.
Emphasising the need for the community to be more self sufficient, he said that farmers must recognise the challenges, and confront them so as to significantly maximise on the benefits and exploit the full potential of the community.
He noted that the only way residents and farmers can see increased productivity is by getting more areas under cultivation, despite the topography and location of the community.
“The best days for Guyana as it relates to agriculture are not in the past but in the future. We believe that we can tap that vast potential; because if we look at our land mass in terms of fertile soil, we have close to 250,000 acres without deforestation and under cultivation,” he said.

While positing that there are few countries that can boast of such available land, the Agriculture Minister said that notwithstanding climate change, the country is in a position to be a significant provider of food.
He said that having recognised the opportunities that lie in the sector, Government continues to invest. This has seen to date an allocated $9B invested in the sector, to ensure that there is a decrease in the number of hungry people.

Food production
Minister Persaud said the administration is currently restructuring the St. Cuthbert’s community, enabling it to be more food-secure; as such, a massive rehabilitation of the main access road from the Linden Soesdyke Highway to the village will be done.
The initiative will see $25M being spent.
The Ministries of Agriculture and Amerindian Affairs will also be collaborating in a project whereby areas that were formerly not used for agriculture production will now be converted into food producing plots.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, who was also at the occasion, alluded to the fact that Guyana currently has a positive outlook as it relates to being food security, noting that Government has and will continue to ensure that this is maintained.
She indicated that many countries have suffered from natural disasters, which have taken a toll on their productivity. However, she said, “The world needs to pay more attention to ensuring that we can guarantee our food security at the international level.”
“Our country stands in a very good position to fill the gap, not only in a regional context, but also at an international level; so with agriculture expansion and diversification on the agenda, agriculture is a lucrative sector,” she added.
Meanwhile, the observance was praised by Toshao of St. Cuthbert’s, Ernest Dundas, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation representative, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul.
Dr. Fletcher-Paul, reading the ‘World Food Day’ message by FAO’s Director General, Dr. Jacques Diouf, said that due to decades of silent neglect in global agriculture production, the 2009 economic crisis, coupled with soaring food prices, caused the hunger threshold to breach the one billion mark.
This has since seen the launch of a petition by the FAO to reflect on the moral outrage of the situation.
“This is for persons to sign the petition and to work together to amplify the message that society has to take special care so that no one goes hungry, and to date over one million people have signed and the project this is continuing,” she said.
According to Fletcher-Paul, this year’s theme, “United against Hunger”, highlights the need to launch a new green revolution, noting that the task of increasing food production is a job for everyone.
She pointed out that there will have to be a 70 percent increase in food production to satisfy the needs of nine billion people by 2050. This means that farmers will have to get greater yields from the limited farms acreages they till.

After the ceremony, Ministers Persaud and Sukhai also commissioned a drip irrigation system that will significantly benefit residents of the area, as Government seeks to address pressing issues that are affecting food security.

The area, which is mostly sandy, is oftentimes faced with the unavailability of enough water, and as such, the Ministry saw it fit to initiate the programme.
This method allows for the slow application of water directly to the plant’s root zone, with water not being wasted on non-growth areas.
This method can maintain moisture of the soil as well. (GINA)