Optimum Decibels in food production
National Coordinator of the Guyana Agricultural Producers Association (GAPA), Mr. Steve Mangal, contends that, if farmers and other agricultural stakeholders work collectively and present a united front the results produced will be optimum decibels. A statement from GAPA indicated that the farmers’ voice cannot be well heard without a farmers’ organisation, because there is vocal and representational strength in numbers. This has also been adumbrated by General Secretary of the RPA, Mr. Daramkumar Seeraj.
“It has long been proven that individuals approaching Government have less bargaining power than a group of farmers approaching Government as a united farmers’ organisation, and the collective voices of farmers have more stridency and credibility, which can be used to engage the policymakers in sensible dialogue on issues that affect them,” the statement said.
GAPA is a non-governmental and non-profit entity that has chapters in all other regions, which facilitate easy access by farmers across the country.
The secretariat is located at 18 Brickdam, Georgetown. GAPA has been in existence since 1974, serving the farming community, but its activities were forced into decline because of the correlating decline of the agricultural sector. However, as a result of the dynamic agricultural thrust of this administration driven by the Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture, the organisation was re-established in 2008 to better serve and provide for the non-traditional agricultural farmers within Guyana, including the Hinterlands areas, which are served through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
The principal role of this body is to advocate for new policy changes in order to make the business environment transparent and predictable for all farmers to ply their trade. In addition, GAPA is working in conjunction with the social sector by playing a pivotal role in alleviating poverty in rural areas, in collaboration and with assistance from various ongoing projects within Guyana.
Members of GAPA are assisted in skills improvement in the areas of management, decision-making, communication, leadership and group dynamics so that members are better able to participate in network activities that will eventually propel them out of subsistence farming to producing in volumes and meeting the various criteria for the export market.
RPA and GAPA are sister agencies representing the spectrum of farming activities in Guyana, with the exception of sugar production.