By Clifford Stanley

SEVERAL farmers and agro-processors in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) have received shade-houses, agro-processing equipment and other farming tools from Food For The Poor (FFTP) Guyana Inc., in a donation that is in keeping with the charity’s 2016 thrust to promote social and economic development locally through agriculture.The beneficiaries in Region 5 were the first to receive support under the new FFTP Agricultural Support Programme.
They are the members of the Now or Never Farmers’ Group in Mahaicony; the Perth (Central Mahaicony) Farmers Agro-Processing Group; and the Woodley Park Farmers Group, which comprises mainly women. The members of this latter group received 16 shade houses, with three more to come. This donation would allow group members to boost their commercial production of cash crops through protection from climate change, which the facilities offer.
The grouping was also given a five-foot-high wooden trestle, a 450-gallon water tank, and a 100-foot-long garden hose as part of its package for the shade houses, which are to be located mainly in the backyards of group members.

Members of the Now or Never Group were given a shade-house nursery which can produce over 60,000 seedlings per batch. This will be used by farmers in that and contiguous villages.
Previously lacking easy access to affordable and quality seedlings, farmers of the Now or Never Group have also benefited from training in seed propagation, through a collaboration between FFTP and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).

HAM PRODUCTION
Members of the Perth Group, who are involved in the production of ham, benefited by way of a number of upgrades being made to their agro-processing centre at Central Mahaicony, in addition to their acquisition of a number of equipment.
The upgrading included the tiling of internal walls, installation of insect mesh to the door and windows, installation of a ceiling for the roof, procurement and installation of a semi-industrial fan and a single-drain sink, remedial electrical wiring and plumbing works, and expansion of an internal wall.

Members also received one freezer, two 160-quart pots, one commercial refrigerator, one 90-foot stainless steel work table, five large buckets with covers, and one pro eco-vacuum sealer for the Centre.

The upgrades would allow members to operate in an environment which meets the Food and Drugs’ requirements of the Ministry of Health, and the quality requirements of local supermarkets.

FORMALITIES
The formal handing over of items for the Guyana projects in Region 5 was done yesterday by FFTP Chief Executive Officer Mr Kent Vincent, who was accompanied by Senior Project Manager Andrea Benjamin, Field Officer Colin Reynolds, Videographer Lakeraj Sharma, and Angels of Hope Coordinator and Project Officer Asha Wayne.

Present at the ceremony were NAREI’s Coastal Projects Officer Aaron Ramroop, whose Department had provided technical support for the shade house projects; and Arnold Mendonca of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), who had played a central role in providing international standard training for the members of the Perth Group in the production of ham.

Representatives of the beneficiary groups were loud in their appreciation for the support received from FFTP, and in their comments on the positive impact the gifts had made on their production and productivity.

Members of the Perth, Central Mahaicony Group said that, through the new facilities received, they will increase their production with the local high-end supermarkets in mind.

The projects, according to Benjamin, were funded with the approval of the organisation’s Head Office in Florida.
She said the FFTP has targeted a women’s group in Region 5, the Women of Change, and also areas in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice) for similar support, in keeping with its new mandate of promoting economic and social development of farmers and farming communities through facilitating higher standards of agricultural production.