MANY POSITIVE VISTAS PRESENTED

IN colonial times, the Guyana Economy rested on the tripod of sugar, rice and bauxite and if all three of these industries functioned well and were profitable, then the country was in prosperity.  If two functioned, the economy broke even.  After independence, all three of these industries suffered a loss of markets, negative political interference and poor management and the country quickly drifted into economic decline.

Now it seems that Agriculture Month 2020 which was observed in October, had a strong indication that agriculture would be on the upward rise.  This optimism is engendered by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic management of the Ministry of Agriculture and the beginning of the revival of agricultural industries such as rice and sugar and the hope that fairly shortly some oil revenues will be invested in a sector which had always been awaiting adequate investment to fructify into prosperity.  Quite appropriately the theme of this Agriculture Month 2020 was “Investing in Agriculture for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development.”

There are two reasons among others why focused agricultural development is necessary.  First the “Dutch disease” or “Oil Curse” would be avoided.  Oil is a finite resource and will be exhausted in 30 years, while agriculture is self-renewing and self-generating and would continue to bolster the economy when oil would have ceased to be a revenue earner.  If a country becomes too dependent on oil, it will be engulfed in poverty when the oil runs out.  And second, there is a Caribbean food market of US$6 billion which can be supplied by Guyana.
In Agriculture Month 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture laid out a road map of development: The sugar industry would be resuscitated;  rice would be expanded and production increased;  fishing, both in fish farms and deep-sea fishing would be expanded;  the coconut industry would be developed;  livestock development would be revived;  fruit farming, bananas, plantains and ground provision farming would be stimulated;  scientific research would be widened at NAREI;  drainage would be seriously addressed, and infrastructural development would continue, so that farmers could easier get to their fields and bring out their produce to the market.

In the past, similar road maps were adumbrated but have never been achieved.  The plans of 2020 would be achieved because there are adequate budgetary allocations and above all, the ministry is led by a minister who seems to be fired with an enthusiasm which would accept nothing else but success and the highest standards.  The sugar industry which was consciously destroyed by the factories being vandalised and neglected and squatters occupying large areas of prime cane lands and destroying hundreds of millions of dollars of priceless scientific research has taken on this daunting challenge and has seriously begun resuscitation of the industry.  The same trend is evidenced in the other agricultural industries and if the same level of investment and commitment to success continues for the next four to five years, Guyana would experience its Agricultural Revolution.
It should be mentioned that the activities planned for Agriculture Month were mostly held virtually and this has brought the farming community and others into the modern world of IT and the more expert use of the computer.

World Food Day 2020 fell within Agri-month and enrichens it.  World Food Day provides a global platform to raise awareness of issues of hunger and poverty and its theme this year “Grow, Nourish, Sustain.  Together, Our Actions are our Future” synthesised with the aspiration of food security.

As part of his comment on World Food Day, the Minister of Agriculture pointed out that much of the investment on food security derived from private farmers, traders, agri-businesses and others engaged in production and distribution of food but that the entire sector is fragmented and unorganised.  The ministry will establish a “Farmers’ Registration” whereby aid in the delivery of better services to farmers and help in accessing incentives and other benefits offered by government would be easier acquired.
World Food Day 2020 marked the 75th  anniversary of the establishment of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and allowed the minister not only to congratulate FAO but to thank the various bilateral and multilateral agencies for their technical and financial support.