Guyana’s Agriculture programme wins Canadian support
– with billion-dollar food security project
THE successes of Guyana’s food security and productivity policies which have been garnering international attention over the years have been lauded by many developed countries, as a model to follow if developing countries are to seriously address the issue of food security. Guyana has been one of a few countries that can boast of having a food secure economy, supplying the growing demands of its CARICOM partners through its ever-growing production scale.
To capitalise on its many opportunities, the Ministry of Agriculture and the McGill University of Canada yesterday inked a three-year Cdn$5M (Gy$1B) partnership agreement with the objective of stimulating greater food security.
This agreement will see McGill University heading a Gy$1B  research project to increase food production through agricultural diversification as part of the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund.
Its inking of the agreement took place in the boardroom of the Ministry of Agriculture where Minister Robert Persaud, along with Dr. Chandra A. Madramootoo, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University made presentations.
According to Dr. Madramootoo, this project has a total value of Cdn$5 million and will be executed over the next 40 months. The programme has several components and it is aimed at addressing the problems of food and nutrition insecurity, to help the region reduce its dependence on imported food and to assist countries such as Guyana that has immense food producing potential and capabilities to show potential.
Among the objectives of the project are to reduce food and nutrition insecurity, to address irrigation and water management, and to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, such as drought. Further, there are aspects of food safety and post-harvest technology that will be brought to the project and also the development of improved fertilizer practices.
Head of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) Dr. Udho Homenauth said, “We are here this morning to formalise a partnership agreement between McGill University and the Ministry of Agriculture on a project titled ‘Improving the Nutrition and Health of Caricom Populations’ under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund.”
He added that the project is part of a comprehensive programme that the ministry is currently implementing as it relates to food security. Homenauth also indicated that one of the interventions of the project is based on climate smart agriculture.
Speaking at the presentation, Dr. Madramootoo said it is an honour for him to be here for the inauguration of the project.
“This is a project that was conceived under a programme that is being funded by the International Research Development Centre of Canada and also the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It is a programme that was started two years ago by the Government of Canada as part of Canada’s commitment, as a member of the G-8, at the time of the food security crisis in 2008 when the crisis was brought to international attention. All G-8 leaders had made a pledge to donate to international food security efforts, to create a global fund for food security which is a trust fund administered by the World Bank,” he explained.
He said the Government of Canada also decided that it was appropriate for academic institutions and universities to play a leadership role by investing in research projects with developing countries.
“So they launched a call for proposals in 2009 and, at McGill University, we decided to submit a proposal in conjunction with several other agencies, one of which is the Ministry of Agriculture in Guyana and we did this because of the importance of the Jagdeo Initiative on food security in the Caricom region,” he said.
“We submitted this proposal together with the University of the West Indies with the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI),” he said. Dr. Madramootoo added that there were a total of 267 submissions by Canadian universities to the fund and only eight were selected, underscoring the high competition among the projects.
He thanked President Bharrat Jagdeo whom, he said, supported McGill’s application by providing documents and letters. He also thanked Minister Persaud who also supported the process in the submission of the proposal.
Speaking at the event, Minister Persaud said he was very delighted that Guyana’s project was chosen out of the many in what was a very competitive venture. “It reminds us and gives us the type of confidence that what we’re doing in agriculture is certainly making sense and winning the support in terms of how it is we can do it better and expand. This project which has a research dimension to it will allow us to correct some of the shortcomings we may have, some of the issues that have threatened productivity, especially as it relates to climate change,” the Minister said.
“I am also happy that the areas that have been chosen in terms of focus – the villages on the East Coast that we are working with – Golden Grove to Buxton, especially getting the backlands back in operation after decades,” he said.  This, according to Minister Persaud, addresses not only the issue of productivity but also that of the socio-economic situation of the residents there.
He said farmers in the Parika area are making a lot of strides and as such the project will be aimed at benefitting them also. This project will complement what the Ministry is doing in a number of areas through a number of projects, he added.
Alluding to the fact that Guyana’s agriculture sector faces many opportunities as well as challenges, Minister Persaud said, “We are hoping that through this project we can convert some of the challenges into opportunities to make the sector much more resilient.”
Dr. Madramootoo also presented Minister Persaud with of a copy of his recent publications ‘Water and Food Security in Central Asia’ and ‘Water Management for Global Food Securities.’