–‘space would enable us to be more effective and efficient,’ says FAO Country Rep.

THE Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) secretariat in Guyana commissioned a new office on Friday at the Ministry of Agriculture’s La Bonne Intention (LBI) Complex. During the commissioning exercise, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha said that the new office demonstrates the government’s commitment to working with international partners to develop the sector.
“This new office is another act to demonstrate our commitment to working and collaborating with our international partners to develop the sector. We’ve been working very closely with our international partners, and you can testify to the gains we’ve been making in agriculture,” Minister Mustapha said, adding: “Guyana is once again taking its rightful place in the region, in terms of pushing the agriculture agenda and food security. Guyana has a history and a legacy for pushing agriculture in the Caribbean and CARICOM; our former president developed the ‘Jagdeo Initiative’ that was adopted by CARICOM.

Those points are still relevant today; our current president has put forward a document to advance the agriculture agenda and food security in the Caribbean that was recently adopted by the CARICOM Heads of Government. As a result of that, a ministerial taskforce was developed that is being chaired by Guyana, and I am very optimistic that with the help of the FAO and other partners, we can develop a strategy to advance our food security agenda and work to resolve the issues of food insecurity in the Caribbean.” Minister Mustapha also said that government will continue to push the agriculture agenda in the Caribbean, and that it will continue to support international organisations like the FAO. He said that both the ministry and the government look forward to the FAO’s cooperation, guidance and input to push the agriculture agenda in the region. FAO’s Country Representative, Dr. Gillian Smith said that the new space will not only provide an enabling environment for its staff, but also support the kind and quality of work required of the agency here.

“The ministry has consented and provided us with this new office space. We’ve been able to create a space that, I believe, is very good for the staff, and provides us with enough comfort, so that we can be more effective and efficient in what we are doing,” Dr Smith said. “The Government of Guyana has provided, through the host country agreement with FAO since 2007, a space for us to operate,” she said. Importantly, as a UN agency, we have been embedded with the Ministry of Agriculture, which is probably the closest and most important partner that we have in the Government. Ever since we’ve been in Guyana, the FAO has been looking at how we can support and expand what the Government is doing, and what the people of Guyana are doing in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and rural development. This building will help us to support and provide the kind of work and the quality of work required by Guyana. It is also a recognition of the importance that Guyana is increasingly playing in the Caribbean and it provides an opportunity for us to provide the kind of support that Guyana needs as it pursues its development agenda,” she added.
The LBI complex also houses some of the Ministry of Agriculture’s other agencies, such as the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC), and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).