-Canje riverine community ready for agro-processing, other economic ventures

LOCATED some 140 miles from the Canje Bridge, the riverine community of Baracara, in Region Six, continues to subsist on farming and logging, as it did when it was a settlement in the 1800s.

However, residents today are ready for a change from the traditional, and are eager to embrace new technologies to transform their economic activities and to improve their living standards.Its location and relatively small population may make Baracara a seemingly easily forgettable place, and for years residents have felt forgotten. In fact, the journey up the Canje river to get to Baracara can seem like a cruise back through historical times. Cell phone coverage is soon lost, and the heavily forested river banks are only occasionally broken up by glimpses of other riverine communities along the way. The rich black water of the Canje River is broken up by islands of grass that make passage with an outboard engine treacherous.

It is this same river which assists Baracara and other residents to move their produce from the farm to the market. Predominantly involved in farming and logging, the community is ripe for development of value-added products, provided the equipment and training are provided. Currently, farmers sell what they cultivate — crops such as ground provision, plantains, bananas, peas and corn, but this leaves them vulnerable to the volatility of local market prices. Once they are able to produce more value-added products, they will be in a better position to seek wider markets.

Shaundel Hinds, a resident of Baracara for many years, said that once they are able to get the necessary equipment, the community will find no difficulty in venturing into agro-processing and focusing more on value-added products. In fact, residents seem eager and ready for new economic activities.

It is no wonder that President David Granger’s arrival in the village on December 13, 2015 — incidentally, the first visit by a sitting President in more than 30 years — was met with joyful traditional singing and dancing.

“Today is a day when history will [be written again]. Today is a day that we have been looking forward to for years… but finally it has reached us in Baracara,” Community Leader Carl Amsterdam declared.

The President, himself not unaware of the plight of the community — having visited it during his years in opposition — seemed to resurrect the hope and pride of the people in Baracara when he iterated that no community should be neglected on the basis of geography.

“I don’t believe in hinterland and coastland. I don’t believe in ‘bush’ and ‘town’. I believe in Guyanese living in their communities. If I believe that, I cannot allow Baracara to be left behind. If I believe in equality, you must get equal access to the assets of this country. This country is being run for all Guyanese, wherever they are,” the Head of State said.

The people of Baracara are no less equal than any other Guyanese. The descendants of mainly Africans who were transported up the Creek in the 1800s on rafts and boats, they worked on plantations producing mainly coffee, cocoa and yams. Following the abolition of slavery, farming continued to be the main source of livelihood, and the main crops were coconut, plantains and bananas. Over time, the main source of income shifted to include balata harvesting and logging. Today, the community is well known for its crops. Unfortunately, though, moving crops to the market has become a challenge.

Oswald Hinds, a senior citizen, has lived in Baracara all his life. He said the cost of transportation is so high that the people suffer losses in trying to get their produce out of the village. President Granger, and in fact many Baracarians, know that what worked in the 1800s and the 1900s will not work in a fast advancing, modern world.

The President told them, “If you are producing pumpkins, cassava, bananas, mangoes and you can’t get them sold, don’t throw up your hands in despair. You’ve got to be innovative. Every single plantain can be made into plantain chips. Every single cassava and sweet potato could be made into chips. Every single mango, every single orange can be made into juice. What you need here is the equipment to do agro-processing.”

Wynal Park, another resident, said the people of Baracara are innovative and hard-working, and are not looking for mere hand-outs, but rather just need a little technical and financial support to get them started. He, too, is of the view that with better markets and the establishment of a sawmill or wood processing plant, the community would see major development.

He explained that in the rainy season more logging is done, while in the dry season the focus is on farming. As such, he said, if ways can be found to improve the way these two activities are done, the people would be able to generate more income.

Baracara is a community rich in talent and pride. The residents of the community, who are heavily influenced by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and other Christian denominations, are keen on maintaining their rich history and developing their talents for music. Known to be an inventive people, they have home remedies for snake bites, diarrhoea, and even infertility, which they believe are sometimes more effective than modern medicine.

It is this same pride in their unique identity that can be channelled into the development of a rich economic centre.

“No matter how many gifts people bring in here, unless you build a strong economy, you will never be able to escape from poverty. Unless you remove the inequalities by becoming producers of goods, you will always end up being consumers,” the President told the residents.

Baracarians don’t need much convincing, though; they are ready for a new era in their history. While this is still a place where one must climb a jamoon tree with the hope of gaining cell phone coverage, they themselves are ready to embrace modern technology. The President’s plan to ensure the development of a Learning Centre with Internet access was welcomed enthusiastically. This would mean that ordinary residents will not be imagining production of value-added items in a vacuum; they would be able to research cost-effective means of production and the veracity of markets for that produce.

This is the future that is imagined by the curious faces of the many young children in Baracara. At the top of Government’s priority for them is access to education.

The fact that the community is only accessible by boat not only impacts the cost of living in Baracara, but also access to schools and other vital social services. Baracara has a health centre and primary school, but no secondary school.

It is precisely for this reason that the President committed to providing a school boat to the community to ensure children get to school, as has been done for children in the Pomeroon. This would greatly ease the financial burden on parents. At present, one of the first skills little children learn is paddling a canoe, as this is the only means of transportation.

As a community, Baracara has come a long way. Today the village is also referred to as ‘Windsor Forest’ or ‘New Ground’. With all its challenges, however, being a relatively isolated area has its advantages. The community has developed into a very close-knit one, where health workers and teachers are all well-known and respected, and everyone is treated as family.

The quiet, idyllic charm of the area introduces visitors to a different side of a diverse country. Baracarians are proud to celebrate their identity as an ancient village, but they are no less proud to be part of Guyana’s national identity.

(Contributed by the Press and Publicity Unit, Ministry of the Presidency)