MINISTER of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has emphasised the need for Guyana to act now to create the environment to achieve its potential of feeding the entire Caribbean region.

He made these remarks during a World Food Day event held at the Albion Sports Complex, Corentyne, Berbice, on Sunday.

The activity was celebrated under the theme, “Leave no one behind… Better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all”.

In his address, the minister pointed out that Guyana is now ideally positioned to provide the food and nutrition security which is vital for the Caribbean region and other countries.

He noted that the government, over the last two years, has worked above and beyond to strategically place Guyana on the road that leads the agriculture agenda. This, he said, is crucial to the realisation of ‘Vision 25’, which aims to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025.

In ensuring food security, the minister noted that there will be scope for sustainable employment opportunities for youths, women and other vulnerable groups.

In emphasising that this will help to improve livelihoods, he said, “Food security should not stop at increasing production, but should be inclusive of increasing accessibility and improving nutrition for all Guyanese.”

Minister Mustapha assured those at the function that the government is working on creating the enabling environment for sustainable food systems, ensuring intergenerational equity, and encouraging the strengthening of local food production and consumption.

“Championing food security, and leaving no one behind requires development beyond the traditional agriculture; it requires different actions from the business as usual. Exceptional times call for exceptional actions. Guyana’s agriculture sector must be expanded, diversified and mordernised, and made resilient to be a competitive sector in Guyana and CARICOM,” he said.

The minister used the occasion to highlight the many ongoing transformational projects intended to boost food security and reduce imports. These projects target the increase in rice production by 25 per cent, or approximately 860,000 tonnes by the year 2025; the increase in sugar production to 100,000 tonnes in the next three years; the opening up of over 150,000 acres of new land for cultivation in the Number 58 Village, Corentyne area; the increase in technology and mechanisation by 15 per cent; cultivation of 25, 000 acres of corn and soya by the year 2025 to produce livestock feed for the livestock industry; and the expansion of the coconut industry by 15 per cent.

The plans also include the increase in onion cultivation, so as to satisfy the national demand; the commencement of wheat production so as to reduce imports; the establishment of an industrial hemp industry; and the establishment of international standard beef and swine abattoirs, such as the ones that are being constructed at Rising Sun, West Coast Berbice, and Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.

Minister Mustapha also announced that during next year, Guyana will be hosting the 38th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC38).

Ministers of Agriculture and high-level officials of the region will meet in Guyana to deliberate on priority matters related to food and agriculture, including the promotion of regional coherence on global policies in the agriculture-food sector.

Programme Manager, Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Shaun Baugh, in his remarks, highlighted that the 25 by 25 initiative has been a game changer.

Among the other speakers were Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Country Representative Wilmot Garnett; Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) Enrique Monize, who launched the Small Island Developing States’ multi-country soil management initiative for integrated landscape restoration and climate-resilient food system project; Executive Director of the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Management Calvin James; and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative Dr. Gillian Smith, who read the global remarks of UNFAO Director General.

Other attendees included Region Six Vice-Chairman Zamal Hussain; Major General (Retired) Joe Singh; Ministry of Agriculture staffers, and students of the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA).