GUYANA has been identified as the pilot country in a regional and international project for the development of agriculture in the Caribbean through a Building Regional Climate Capacity in the Caribbean (BRCCC) Programme and has hosted a training seminar for the project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The five-day seminar successfully empowers farmers to make informed decisions based on accurate, location-specific, climate and weather information; locally relevant crop, livestock and livelihood options, through the use of participatory tools.

According to a press statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Hydromet Department will facilitate a workshop based on Guyana’s ability to develop Participatory Integrated Climate Services of Agriculture (PICSA).
Several facilitators have already become involved in making decisions on PICSA’s involvement in extension activities, even as the project targets small-scale farmers in an effort to “tailor climate information and services to support decision-making,” according to the ministry.

The statement said information gathered through the identification of farming options, as well as comparing climate information and agriculture options, would be used as a guide to farmers on crop and livestock types for possible investment — by determining crops which are resilient or suitable for the upcoming season.
According to Chief Hydromet Officer (ag) Dr Garvin Cummings, the PICSA approach will improve services given by extension officers instead of being a replacement for such extension services.

“The PICSA approach is intended to train persons involved in the provision of agricultural services, so that they can be carriers of climate information. With these officers equipped with the ability to offer this additional information, Hydromet would not be required to create its own extension arm in terms of getting information to the farmers, but rather use the existing human resource infrastructure, train them so that when they go out into the fields they can be carriers of climate information.” Dr Cummings said.

The PICSA approach is based on statistics and gives reference to historical data to determine the possibilities of a recurrence of particular events, Dr Cummings said.
“PICSA was developed by a team of agricultural experts from Reading University in the United Kingdom and was piloted in South Sahara, Africa, in 2011. Since then, the approach continues to develop and is further tailored to specifically adapt to each country [where] it is executed. This approach requires participatory action, which would allow for the persons who play an integral role in agricultural development deliver information to its intended audience, that the information is understood, can be interpreted and acted on,” the press statement explained.

According to the statement, Associate Professor from Reading University’s School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Dr. Peter Dorward said PISCA does not dictate for farmers, but rather presents facts so that they can make their own judgement.
“When we present the information, farmers would be able to see for themselves that if they, for example, planted a certain crop at a particular farming cycle that they have the best chance or the highest probability of having successes in their agricultural activities.” Dr Dorward said.

The Ministry of Agriculture explained that Guyana was selected as the Caribbean country to lead the project based on findings from a visit earlier this year by a team of professionals from the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology and the University of Reading, to examine conditions here for the possible adoption of PISCA as a pilot project. Because of the success of the visit, other Caribbean countries would also benefit.

The team was able to meet with farmers and expressed satisfaction with their observations.
“How can we provide a better service to the region? Not only as a regional organization but how we can help other member states through the national meteorological and hydrological services to provide meaningful information that will influence decisions and reduce their risks from hazards such as storms and droughts. It becomes critical, especially in this era where we are constantly discussing climate variability and change, that people recognize that there is a service out there on regional and national scales that they can take information and make decisions how they operate,” says Adrian Trotman of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology.

The workshop will see participation from the Hydromet Department; the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI); the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA); The Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC); the Pesticide Board; The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB); The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo); the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB).