THE Ministry of Agriculture Rural Affairs Secretariat launched its first-ever “Kitchen Garden Competition” for households in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and 10 last Friday.
The launch was part of the ministry’s activities to celebrate Guyana’s upcoming 50th Republic Anniversary, in February 2020, and to stimulate interest in agriculture.

The competition will run from December 1, 2019 to February 14, 2020, with eligible gardeners being able to enter in three categories, small, medium and large scale, depending on the size of their gardens.

Explanations and rules of the competition are available on the ministry’s website, while persons who do not have access to the Internet can uplift forms at the ministry or any agricultural agency, including NAREI stations, GLDA and NDIA offices in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and 10.

Participants will be judged at the regional level before regional winners go on to compete for the overall prizes of $150,000, $100,000, and $50,000. The competition puts the focus on each household being able to contribute to its food needs.

The Agriculture Ministry and its agencies offer many opportunities and technical support to the public in establishing a kitchen garden. As part of the launch, Minister with Responsibility for Rural Affairs, Valerie Yearwood, visited the kitchen garden of Dr. Victor Allen.

“I am very pleased to support this initiative and would like to thank an avid gardener such as Dr. Allen, whose plot of land encourages a love of gardening and enjoyment of fresh, healthy foods, which are so vital to nourishing and maintaining physical health and wellbeing,” Yearwood said.

This effort is in keeping with the Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), that is, the promotion of established kitchen gardens in every household, particularly in rural communities, which has proven to be one of the best methods of achieving these set goals, a statement from the ministry said.

“Family farmers hold a unique potential to move towards more productive and sustainable food systems. For thousands of years, family farmers have been innovating, hence, investing in innovation and family farming is more crucial than ever in attempts to end hunger in our nation,” Yearwood noted.

She added: “Food is so much more than what is on our plates, it impacts our whole life; thus, it requires much emphasis, research and investment. We must first see the potential of having kitchen gardens in our homes, [and] appreciate its benefits and contributions towards the development of our communities and economy altogether.”
Yearwood highlighted that kitchen gardens will also play a role in homes being able to capitalise on eating healthier.

“Food is what brings us together, yet not everyone has access to the food they need. Kitchen gardens give us the opportunity to have a healthy, more nutritious and balanced diet at a low-cost, to secure food all year round, and opens an avenue to earn money to sustain our families. It assists too to reduce the risk of many life threatening diseases and to promote good health and wellbeing,” she said.

“To achieve a goal, we need to want it, create a plan, believe in it, set a timeframe to achieve it and effectively implement,” the minister continued.
This competition follows on the heels of the ‘Agri-cursion’, ‘Agri-ability’, ‘Fam’ of familiarisation tours to GuySuCo.