highlights country’s plans for agriculture resilience, food security
Lobbies for technical support at IICA summit to advance region’s food security goals
AIMING to build an agriculture industry that will withstand the effects of climate change and secure income for citizens, President Dr. Irfaan Ali recently proposed a unique ‘food rich’ concept to representatives of the Inter-American Institute on Cooperation in Agriculture, (IICA).
Dr. Ali, while engaging IICA’s Director-General, Manuel Otero, in Costa Rica last week, explained that the concept will explore the use of technology and the sciences to advance the country’s agriculture sector into one that is sustainable and economically friendly.
“Food rich is a concept I have coined that speaks to nutritional values; it speaks to replenishment value because you could be producing food but destroying the environment and all this constitutes what I term a food rich environment,” the Guyanese Head of State said further explaining: “It’s one where you become richer with the food you produce from an environmental standpoint and an economic standpoint”.
Such a concept, he said, will also see the country working towards making the industry much more attractive for the private sector, women, and youths.
“Agriculture is not just the production of food, for us agriculture is a business; it must be able to be competitive, it must be able to earn, it must be able to be profitable, it must be able to generate proposals that are bankable and make sense for the private sector.”
While IICA has already been supporting Guyana and several other countries to achieve their food security goals, President Ali noted that continued support will see countries in the region being able to advance their respective agriculture sectors.
“IICCA has an important responsibility in bridging the inequality gap between and among countries’ access to technology, access to data, access to resources in building human capacity, training and development.”
WOMEN AND YOUTH
The Guyanese Head of State further highlighted several ongoing initiatives to include more women and youth in the sector and adapt to newer technologies.
“We have already launched a programme in Guyana where we said we want 35 per cent of all the new farms to be owned by women and young people and we are already on target with this.”
He added: “All the new agro-phonics, shade houses that we are doing young people are involved, the marine cage project, not only young people but the indigenous communities. Teaching them how to apply technology.”
“We have already launched a programme in Guyana where we said we want 35 per cent of all the new farms to be owned by women and young people and we are already on target with this.”
He further touted plans to transform the country’s agricultural sector as a major income earner for men, women and especially young people.
He explained that the government was working assiduously to position Guyana’s agricultural sector along with the food-production system into a business market for citizens.
The aim is to make the sector more attractive for women and youth.
He also reiterated Guyana’s current role in reducing the CARICOM Region’s high food-import bill.
President Ali, along with Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, currently hold leadership roles in advancing the Region’s food security.
