– the evolution of former Wales Estate employees

AS success stories go, the banding of themselves into a Farmers Advancement Network (FAN) by former Wales Estate employees is an achievement that has made their former boss immensely proud.

As he recalled recently at the launch of the organisation, National Industrial Commercial and Investments Limited (NICIL)’s Mr. Charles Brown said he remembers telling them just last year that they could do far better for themselves if only they would come together.

Today, he is quoted in a NICIL press release as saying that the farmers, having heeded his advice, have since elected an executive body, and are currently in the process of preparing a Constitution. “They are now finalising the final aspect of their registration, and I remain confident that with the interest and determination being shown by most of the members, they would certainly go a far way,” Brown was happy to report.
FAN’s more than 70 members are all former employees of State-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), which, due to circumstances beyond its control, was forced over the years to shut down several of the sugar estates it inherited from the country’s former colonial era.
“When we closed the Wales Estate, we sought various avenues to help in ensuring that lands that were once used for sugar production can be effectively and efficiently utilised. As such, we recognised that a number of former sugar workers were using the lands for various agricultural proposes to continue generating an income,” Brown said in an exclusive interview.

And the response to that offer of help, he said, was overwhelming. “There were barrages of requests coming in, as many persons were seeking to grab as much land as possible, with the view that they were going to engage in some form of agricultural production,” Brown said, adding: “We had persons seeking to do cattle rearing, while others sought to do cash-crop production. And some even wanted to venture into food processing, so the requests were coming from everywhere.”

As part of their routine, the group meets weekly to hammer out details to guide the new entity, especially on matters of the marketing of their produce.
“These farmers plant individually; from peas, corn, peppers, egg plants, bora etc. But when they are ready to sell, they do it collectively to one buyer who takes whatever they have in whatever amounts they have. This will help them, as while the price being offered is not superb, the farmers are satisfied and confident that as they grow in production, so shall the demand for their produce too,” Brown said, adding:
“These farmers are happy, as they do not have to leave their farms to go and seek markets, as the buyer comes to them. They plant, reap and sell from the comfort of their gardens. The excellent thing is that they sell collectively, but are paid individually. So it’s not a case where their monies are paid over to the group, but rather each farmer receives his/her payment directly.”

NICIL’s ‘Two-heads-better-than-one’ policy clearly favours the Farmers Advancement Network, Brown emphasised.
“The businessman takes everything that they reap, and he has assured them that he will continue to take whatever they reap when they increase their production so their markets are guaranteed,” he declared.