Dear Editor
THE Business Editorial in the Stabroek News captioned, ‘Agriculture: More Rhetoric’ was most unimpressive and equally disillusioning, since it failed to address what is happening in ‘market’ but rather, seemed focused on the ‘noise’. The Editor accused the Ministry of Agriculture ‘to often talk up the responsibilities of its portfolio without paying due attention to the actualisation of its undertakings’. Has the Editorial sought the ‘actualisation’ taking place?

It is disappointing that the editorial has seen ‘no clear commitment to realisation’ of ‘undertakings’, namely, food security and the reduction of the food bill which is in excess of US$5 billion. No doubt, these are serious issues but these have been addressed by this government in a most tangible manner and cannot be classified as ‘rhetoric’, moreover so in the midst of the most vicious pandemic ever and the most catastrophic flood in over 40 years. This flood actually wiped out many farms across the country.

Equally disappointing is the fact that the editorial did not see the emotional ‘oomph’ which farmers have exuded as a result of the financial and technical assistance which the government extended to all farmers affected by the devastating flood. The government saved not only the livelihoods of Guyanese, but salvaged some crops which allow for the continued sustenance of the people. This plague was actually averted was not mere ‘waffle’.

It took the ministers of this government and even the President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister sleepless nights and working around the clock 24/7 to ensure that agriculture survived and it is a shame that some ‘pen pushers’ would sit in their air-conditioned offices, oblivious of the struggles taking place without. Not only that, it took over $10 billion dollars in actual cash relief and infrastructural works. In addition, the sugar industry was badly hit and sugar production will bear the crippling fallout in this and the next year. I know some of the naysayers will sing the ‘closure mantra’.

It is a pity that the Business Editorial did not look beyond ‘emotional oomph’ and critically lacked statistical data analysis. Had it done some analysis as to the budgetary allocation since this government took office and the Bank of Guyana Mid-Year Report, it would have painted a vastly different picture. Criticisms and condemnations would have been appropriately placed where they belong; -squarely on the Coalition’s maladministration of the entire country and not only the agriculture sector. I could still recall the empty rhetoric of ‘rice bowl’, ‘sugar pot’ and ‘fruit bowl’ from Granger himself and he was not condemned.

In the 2019 Budget, the Coalition Government allocated $17 billion to the Agriculture Sector but in 2016 it was $18 billion. It declined progressively. Under this government in 2020 it was $18.4 billion and in 2021 it rose steeply to $22.6 billion. This seems to be costly ‘rhetoric’. I wondered if the continuous slashing of the agriculture budget brought any negative recrimination from the Stabroek Business Editorial. Unfortunately, I have seen none.

In addition, a comparison of the Bank of Guyana Mid-Year Report for 2020 and 2021 indicated that the contraction in the Agriculture Sector was more pronounced in 2020 than in 2021 despite the negative effects of the pandemic and the devastating floods. This would indicate the effectiveness of the strategies implemented by the government, namely, by the Ministry of Agriculture. When we seek to criticise and condemn the sector, one must take strong cognisance of the debilitating factors which wreaked havoc to the sector. We must pardon the ministry for placing undue emphasis to save the sector rather than being involved in pomp and celebration.

The Honourable Zulfikar Mustapha, in a round-table discussion on the role of farmers and rural communities in the sustainability of agrifood systems, organised by the Council of the Americas and the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), reminded those present that, ‘We must improve the conditions of food producers, who are the true generators of wealth’.

He made it abundantly clear that the establishment of infrastructure for the processing of crops in rural areas will add value and which in turn, will increase the profitability of the farming activities. The thousands who attended his numerous outreaches will know that this is what he continuously reiterated and what he assiduously worked towards achieving. The numerous challenges which the agriculture sector has had to endure have never been greater in any time in our history but with every challenge a speedy resolution was put in place.

The devastating effects of climate change will no doubt cause the sector to face even more challenges in the future but it is a heartening relief to note that the government’s agrarian policies are geared to mitigate those disastrous effects in the future. The recent flood wreaked havoc in the sector but as stated before, the government worked non-stop to ensure that the negative effects of the flood were minimised. It deployed all its resources in not only giving immediate relief with food supplies and other necessities but give monetary relief to the thousands of cattle farmers, rice farmers and cash crop farmers.

In conclusion, I will not itemise the numerous investments already taking place in the different regions of Guyana to boost food production and processing since this information is easily accessible. What needs to be understood is our preference for imported foods as against the official commitment to helping the rest of the Caribbean “reduce its food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025”. This commitment must be looked through this prism but this is being addressed as the ministry’s continued drive to increase production not only in non-traditional crops but dairy and meat, eggs, fish and shrimp, among others driven by processing and value-added products.

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf