THE impact of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in Guyana was further highlighted with the official launching of a special project in the agriculture sector in Guyana, titled “Building Resilience and Sustainable Livelihood: Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management/Disaster Risk Reduction (DRM/DRR)”.

The US$300,000 project which is funded by the Japanese Government under supervision of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was officially launched on Monday in the UNDP Conference Room.

Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder in delivering the feature address, underscored the importance of implementing enhanced disaster risk management mechanisms to offset the impact climate change has on agriculture production in Guyana. This, he noted, has caused increased focus on the need for enhanced agriculture disaster and risk management systems to be implemented.

Building on the past achievements, projects such as these are necessary, according to the Agriculture Minister, as agriculture risk reduction and disaster management revolve around adaptation and mitigation initiatives to prevent and manage floods and droughts.

GOOD ECONOMIC SENSE
“With the kind of economic losses and developmental setbacks that Guyana has experienced because of El Nino or drought-like periods and La Nina-related floods, particularly since 2000, it makes good economic sense to invest in prevention and mitigation of disasters,” the Minister said.

While the issue of disaster risk reduction is not entirely new to the agriculture sector, and the Ministry of Agriculture specifically, the development of the disaster risk management plan for the agriculture sector in 2013, represented the first attempt at a holistic framework for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the agricultural sub-sectors.

Minister Holder echoed the call for the critical masses to be fully equipped with knowledge and skills to direct the much needed transformation, for the needed change to occur. “We therefore thank the Government of Japan, UNDP, FAO and other partners for supporting us in this project, which is in line with the guiding principles of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the global call for Governance within Disaster Risk Reduction,” he said.

Japanese Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Mitsuhiko Okada spoke of the importance that disaster risk management plays and pledged the continued support of the people and government of Japan to Guyana. In February of this year, the Japanese Government approved the US$300,000 to support disaster risk management in Guyana, which according to the Ambassador will significantly aid in strengthening the system.

DISASTER, FOOD INSECURITY
Meanwhile, FAO’s Deputy Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul pointed to some of the impacts that natural disasters pose in the Caribbean annually.

In 1998, as a result of drought, 35 percent of Guyana’s rice fields were left uncultivated due to insufficient water. “There is a direct link between disaster and food insecurity…they interrupt market access, trade and food supply, reduce income and employment, deplete saving and erode livelihood,” she said.

In 2013, the FAO worked with the Ministry of Agriculture to develop a disaster risk management plan for the agriculture sector. This project was important for reducing the effects of climate change and was also emphasized by UN Resident Coordinator and Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, respectively, Ms, Khadija Musa and Dr. Hector Butts.

The Japanese funded project remains a timely initiative in assisting the agriculture sector in Guyana to respond more effectively to the impacts of climate change and to further increase the country’s resilience to offset the effects of climate change.