THE new Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, which is aimed at empowering youths and providing them with the opportunity to be a part of Guyana’s development, could see up to $70 million in revenue being generated annually for the country.

Through this programme, the government will be constructing shade houses and investing in hydroponics and vertical agriculture to produce three high-valued crops: broccoli, cauliflower and carrot.

This simple yet significant project has the potential to empower young people to earn millions of dollars from the crops being produced.

The three initial products selected for the project were identified based on the country’s consumption pattern and economic indicators, which signal high demand for the crops. As the project advances, there will be investments in other crops.

Those three crops form a large part of the country’s food import bill, with data suggesting that consumption of the vegetables is only increasing with each passing year.

In 2018, the import value for carrot, broccoli and cauliflower was $1.583 billion, while in 2019 and 2021 the import value stood at $1.962 billion and $2.626 billion, respectively.

Not only will local production contribute to Guyana’s food security strategy, it could also add around $70 million in revenue to the economy each year, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

Under this initiative, the government will be incorporating a company named “One Guyana,” and youths who are a part of the project will be shareholders. The company will be guided by an advisory committee which will include a representative from the private sector to help to implement a highly successful business model

The government is making the initial investment to set up the shade houses before handing them over to former and current students of the University of Guyana (UG), the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), and other budding agricultural entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the launch of the programme at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Tuesday, President Ali said that the intention of the project is to create jobs, improve livelihoods, encourage entrepreneurship, and build local capacity and empower youths.

“The resources from oil and gas give us the opportunities to open up opportunities in these areas and this is where the real benefit will be, this is where Guyanese will benefit the most ; these opportunities, creating it and giving you the ownership so that you are part of it and you own it, you build it, you manage it,” he told the youths who were at the launch.

Further, he said that the project contributes to “real local content,” since Guyana will be able to supply the needs of hotels and other consumers rather than importing the costly crops. The project will also contribute to the country’s agricultural diversification plans.

“All of this would lead to reducing our import bill cost, saving foreign currency, reducing the impact of imported inflation and, more importantly, building capacity, building human resource capacity for local consumption and also the next phase is regional consumption,” President Ali said.

OUTDATED CONCEPT
The Head of State related that the project is another important component of the government’s agenda to encourage entrepreneurship, noting that the concept where persons attain a university degree to work for someone else is an outdated one.

“Today, you go to university to contribute to the development of society through innovation, technology and also opening up opportunities for others; that is an important concept of modern-day learning,” President Ali said.

He added: “We have to encourage more people to go in the direction of agriculture and to see a viable future out of it and a viable future is not about sitting in an office, but how do we create an environment in which you graduate and you want to feel as if you are still a white-collar worker and still fit into the agricultural framework.”

As the project rolls out, it will be launched in every administrative region of the country, with each region focusing on specific crops. The joint services will also play a crucial role in terms of labour and setting up the shade houses.

Owing to hesitancy to pursue and invest in modern agricultural techniques in a country with vast arable land and a copious freshwater supply, the true agricultural potential of Guyana remains untapped.
Speaking at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA)’s 26th annual awards ceremony in December, 2021, President Ali said that there is a misconception of what modern agro-processing and agriculture is.

Delivering the keynote speech at the event held under the theme, “changing the paradigm for advancing sustainable industry, transformation and growth,” the Head of State said that due to a systematic failure to re-educate the population on modern agricultural techniques and agro-processing, the misconception prevails.

It was at the GMSA event where he related that during his visit to Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), he had the opportunity to witness youths involved in agriculture, who are growing high-valued crops in modern shade houses.

Impressed by this model, President Ali said that upon his return to Guyana, he shared the idea with the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, and requested that the model be implemented locally – the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme is that model materialising.

Not only will the programme improve Guyana’s food security, contribute significantly to the economy and improve livelihoods, but it will also help the country to regain its title of bread-basket of the Caribbean, President Ali said on Tuesday.

“Whilst we are working on one hand to expand local production in the local market, we are already eliminating the barriers to the regional markets so we can expand this progressively, until we are able to reach into the regional market,” the Head of State added.