HOMEOWNERS, kitchen garden operators and farmers countrywide will be beneficiaries of a US$1.35M Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Economic Growth  project  funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Japanese Trust Fund (JPO).

The project being implemented by Partners of the Americas (POA) (Guyana Chapter) and the Caribbean Self-Reliance International (CASRI) will aim at sustainable livelihoods and community economic growth in communities through Hydroponic and Organic Vegetable Production and Marketing.
Mr. Kelvin Craig, Guyana  Coordinator of the POA, disclosed that the  general objective is to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for low-income households in rural and coastal communities in Guyana by equipping them with skills for producing hydroponic and natural/organic  vegetables for domestic and export markets.

The project  will last for four years and the groups  targeted  will benefit primarily  from  hands-on training in hydroponic or natural vegetable production in shade-houses or in containers.
Project components include development of hydroponic shade-houses, natural/organic farms and home-based gardens, promotion and marketing of hydroponic and natural/organic vegetables and culinary herbs and development of a national association of hydroponic and natural/organic vegetable producers.
Participants will be taught about  compost production, natural pesticide production, planting in containers;  hydroponics; the use and mixture of plant nutrients; and care and management of a hydroponic garden among other areas,  mainly the topics that will enable certification of their produce as organically produced.
One of the two implementing agencies – Partners of the Americas, which was founded in 1964,  links U.S. states with Latin American and Caribbean countries in partnerships that use the energy and skills of citizen volunteers, their institutions and communities to address shared concerns of social, economic and cultural development.
The local chapter in Guyana, linked with Mississippi, works on projects in diverse areas including health, reproductive rights, emergency preparedness, agriculture, and cultural and educational exchanges.

And CASRI is a Canada-based international development organisation which was founded in 1999 and began work in Guyana in 2003.
CASRI actively works with partners to promote self-sustaining and equitable development in the Caribbean  and the core of its  work is the nurturing and development of community and local government leadership for community capacity building and transformation.
CASRI ensures the involvement of the younger generation, their families and the communities where they learn, work and live. In addition to its current work in Guyana, CASRI will be launching its Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership programme in Guyana in 2014, officials disclosed.

(By Clifford Stanley)