-As Government facilitates consistent improvements in sector
Guyana has optimally driven its agriculture sector and consequently achieved a food secure status, and in the Caribbean Region is the only country to boast of food sovereignty, as well as the fact that it is a net exporter of food. However, in an exclusive interview with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, he stressed that stakeholders in the sector must maintain a critical outlook on moves being made in the sector if it is to consistently improve.
He pointed out that while Guyana is placed well regionally, in that is has the ability to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and satisfy food needs, the country is only a small player on the international scene.
“Seventy percent of our rice goes to extra-regional markets, as well as 10 percent of our rice…we need to constantly improve if we are to compete on the international market,” Minister Persaud said.
The Agriculture Minister pointed out that, driven by a vision to constantly enhance the sector, several new initiatives are being advanced, primary of which is the Agriculture Diversification Programme (ADP).
The ADP is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank at a cost of US$21.9M, with counterpart funding from the Government of Guyana of US$1.1M.  The programme targets an increase in the export of non-traditional agricultural commodities and it seeks to establish services and institutions for a sustainable increase in the income derived from the export of non-traditional agricultural exports, including aquaculture products and by-products.
“We hope that with the ADP we can tap into new markets,” he said.
Minister Persaud assured that his Ministry is constantly looking at improving the sector and this is where support from the Ministry’s agencies come in, including the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).
The Agriculture Ministry is advancing its agricultural diversification and modernization thrust with the objective of positioning Guyana as a major supplier of agricultural produce and the GMC continues to be one of the key agencies providing support to this strategy.
The role of GMC has also evolved over the years to facilitate these developments within the sector.
Currently GMC no longer buys or sells agricultural commodities, but supports and enables agribusiness development, especially in the area of export marketing of non-traditional agricultural commodities.
In the area of marketing of non-traditional agricultural produce, the Ministry, through the GMC, has made two packaging facilities available for use by farmers and exporters; one in Parika and the other in Sophia, Georgetown.
At the end of 2009 the volume of fresh produce that was prepared for export at these facilities was 78 percent higher than that for 2008.
Another one of the primary agencies which provides complementary support is the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
The GRDB focuses on establishing facilities for the conduct of research relating to rice and extending to rice farmers through an established system, among others, and the benefits derived from such research include developing the rice industry in Guyana and promoting the expansion of the export trade in the industry; as well as engaging stakeholders in such promotional and developmental activities which the Board deems necessary for the purpose of developing the rice industry.
Minister Persaud said, “Both of these agencies place focus on support services to better serve the farmers, who are key to the sector’s thrusts.”
He added that agriculture is not a “stationary thing” and so the services provided cannot be static.
In terms of research, the Agriculture Minster pointed to the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), which he said responds to the needs of farmers by capturing, refining and transferring the relevant new technologies.
These technologies essentially target improved productivity, which extends to improved livelihoods of the farmers, who would have more disposable income, more money, in their pockets.
According to Minister Persaud, the process of capturing, refining and transferring technologies assist in filling the knowledge gaps.
He agreed that the need for more research to be done is an imperative, but pointed to the resource limitation.
“Agriculture spends $300M on research – and this is not research alone, but operational costs too…this is inadequate, but given our limited resources we cannot be able to fund all of the research,” Persaud said.
In this light, he noted that Guyana takes the route of adopting technologies and, with the funds available, refine them to the Guyana context.
The Agriculture Minister added that recruiting specialists from India, Cuba and other countries has also assisted Guyana’s move in the area of research, in an effort to bridge the knowledge gap.
Reaching Ground Level
Oftentimes decisions are made at top levels, but their impacts are never felt, for whatever reason, at the level they are supposed to – ground level, the level of the grassroots people.
A case in point was at a farmer’s meeting, held recently in Parika Backdams, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara), where farmers complained that the plant pathologist, who was supposed to be meeting with farmers on a regular basis, was not available.
Minister Persaud responded by assuring that a team will be visiting the area every Tuesday.
When asked about what is being done to ensure that those on the ground actually benefit, the Agriculture Minister said heightened monitoring.
He explained that tighter controls and more accountability is being increasingly stressed and now farmers have to sign a form by a visiting technical team, certifying that they were present.
This is part of the team’s report and just one of the mechanisms to ensure that the impact of decisions made to advance the sector actually reaches the ground level.
“Monitoring and evaluation is a big part of what we do,” he said.
Minister Persaud said the mass media and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are also used to improve farmers’ education.
“Even if they do not see someone, they have other means to access information,” he said.
The Agriculture Minister acknowledged that farmers are more at ease when they have someone to speak to and pointed out that this is where the Farmers’ Field Schools come in.
The Farmers’ Field Schools sees technical staff conducting outreaches in the fields of farmers.
The Farmer Field School was reportedly initiated to ‘pool together’ the resources of the better farmers in a structured way to help address some of the concerns encountered by them in the industry. It was envisaged that this initiative could be a very effective tool in bridging the yield gap, as it will bring together farmers from diverse backgrounds, who will be able to share their knowledge and experience for the benefit of each other. Ultimately, farmers with limited experience will be able to access other information and techniques in planting from the more experienced farmers, thereby allowing them to improve on what they are doing.
A recent Farmer Field School held in Region Five, which addressed the issue of paddy bug infestation.
The emphasis on training farmers and further equipping them with the relevant ‘know-how’, according to Minister Persaud, is an effort to address the challenges with human resources, which is currently lacking.
Additional moves, he said, include working with schools and the Ministry of Education to encourage more participation in the sector by youths, as well as encourage partnerships with overseas-based stakeholders, for example the Indian specialist attached with NARI to work on a coconut export programme for Guyana, among others.
Minister Persaud pointed to the fact that there was a time when agriculture was on the decline in Guyana, but with focus on building human resource capacity and investment into requisite infrastructure, Guyana’s agriculture will hopefully not return to such a state.
“A lot of what we do today is long term and we will see results in another three years, but the focus on the long term has to be done to make agriculture vibrant,” he said.
Bugbear
Climate change is probably the most talked about current issue and it is no different, particularly, for the agriculture sector, even as stakeholders work to create a vibrant sector.
Minister Persaud said that all of the moves in the sector are being advanced by stakeholders who understand the need to be climate sensible.
“We have to be climate sensible in what we do…the weather is now a constant bugbear…the sector needs to adapt and adjust,” he said.
Another ‘bugbear’, according to him, is the bureaucracy of the system.
Minister Persaud made it clear that where there is bureaucracy, his position is to have it removed.
However, in some cases, he acknowledged that the due process has to be allowed.
“There is still an element of bureaucracy here…we need systems and procedures, but unnecessary red tape holds back development,” he said.
The Agriculture Minister observed that the bottom line is the advancement of the sector through improved productivity and, by extension, enhanced livelihoods for farmers.
Minister Persaud highlighted that the other key challenges are cultural, logistical and also has to do with risk management.
He stressed that risk management support is a must for the sector.
The Agriculture Minister pointed out that there has been no growth on logistical support, for example with packaging produce, and this is an area that needs to be addressed.
He suggested, too, that as it relates to the cultural challenges farmers need to adapt to a changing agricultural environment and changing markets.
Minister Persaud pointed to the changes in the energy market and noted that this is important for an agro-industrial base.
He said when the vision of hydro-power is realized, the potential of the sector will also be realized.
In this context, the Agriculture Minister said, confronting the challenges in a holistic manner will assist in building the resiliency of the agriculture sector.
Value Added
Resiliency in the agriculture sector, Minister Persaud said, will also be realized though the ‘value-added chain’.
The value-added chain focuses on the product from research and post-harvest to agro-processing. It essentially looks at the product at different stages and looks to market for every component of the produce.
He observed that the agriculture sector has seen successes and is on an “upward path.”
However, Minister Persaud noted that there is a gap between what is happening and what is possible.
To this end, he said the reconstruction of a modern sector is needed, particularly in light of the fact that Guyana no longer has preferential markets for its traditional products, rice and sugar, or any other products for that matter.
“We must not settle for what we have…the sector has the potential to make a larger difference.