AS a patriotic Guyanese wanting to see expeditious and meaningful investments, particularly within the agriculture sector, I am prompted to shed some light on the editorial and the ninth feature on the Grow More Food campaign in the October 25 edition of Stabroek News.
On the onset, I am convinced that Stabroek News has very little experience with interacting with farmers; there is a saying “You can never satisfy a farmer”. This is so true, farmers always want and never getting no matter what you do. This is how it has been for ages, as I have a strong family background.
A farmer will never reveal his true earnings on a particular crop due to fears that his market will be threatened. Hence, the farmer will resort to painting negative images of the crops they cultivate. Whilst I admit that more needs to be done, the Stabroek News has gone so far to discredit the Grow More Food campaign that it chose to disregard the numerous progress/investments being made to maintain food security and nutrition among our citizenry.
I am sorry to say that the editors/reporters of Stabroek News have been duped by farmers on numerous occasions on the information they provide, the information they received need to be examined properly rather than make premature pronouncements resulting in the propagation of misinformation.
Additionally, the burning cassava issue, this is a result of the El Nino conditions that Guyana experienced last year and earlier this year; cassava was the only crop to thrive in the harsh dry weather conditions and most farmers not wanting to leave their land bare cultivate cassava. With the huge acreages now being harvested obviously the price for this commodity will sharply decrease. Stabroek News sees this as an opportunity to craft negative images of the Grow More Food campaign, which to my mind has been successful in making food readily available and affordable.
Further, efforts are being made to discredit Guyana as achieving the first Millennium Development Goal; Food Security. This was recently announced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an impartial organisation.
Notwithstanding the Stabroek News’ agenda, I would like to highlight the harm they are causing on the physique of farmers. The disparaging articles published by the Stabroek News are discouraging to farmers and those interested in getting involved in agriculture. The Stabroek News needs to reassess the information they put out to the consuming public and its implications for national development. We are all aware there is freedom of expression in Guyana; however, Stabroek News needs to be objective and maintain its social and patriotic responsibilities.
