THE PPP/C administration has always placed emphasis on agriculture and agricultural development. The records will show that it was under the PPP administration during the 1957-1961 period that the foundations for agricultural take-off was laid. Agricultural lands and drainage and irrigation infrastructure were firmly laid during that period.
One consequence of that emphasis on agriculture was a significant increase in agricultural production, especially rice and other non-traditional crops such as vegetables, poultry, meat and milk. This emphasis on agriculture was intensified under the 1957-1961 PPP government to a point where one political opposition party campaigned on a Manifesto promise to provide ‘free milk and cassava’ to the population were it to win the elections.

The PPP has always considered agriculture as the backbone of the Guyana economy. This economic outlook has, in fact, influenced the policy orientation of all successive PPP governments since 1957. That emphasis on agriculture was, unfortunately, shattered after the PNC-UF coalition assumed power in the 1964 elections.
Guyana, once the breadbasket of the Caribbean in the early 1960s, saw a systematic destruction of the agricultural sector. Such was the extent of the decline in agricultural production that Guyana, at one time under the previous PNC regime, was forced to import both sugar and rice to meet domestic consumption needs.
Thankfully, those sordid years are now behind us, and Guyana is once again playing a lead role in terms of food security, not only in Guyana but in the region as a whole. President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali only recently was the recipient of an Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Award in recognition of his leadership role in agricultural transformation, food security and support for building resilient economies in a sustainable manner in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Other elements of the Award, the first such award to be bestowed on any individual, included President Ali’s support and commitment to public agendas in relation to issues such as regional integration, rural connectivity, social inclusion in the countryside, and gender equality all of which are central to IICA’s work.
President Ali and the PPP/C administration must be commended for putting agriculture at the centre of the country’s developmental trajectory. Only recently, President Ali, during a visit to the small community of Baracara, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), announced that 400 areas of land will be made available for the cultivation of protein-rich red beans.
According to President Ali, ‘We have to ensure that we not only make investment, but that we make investment work for us.’ The idea behind these developments is to bring back land into production, and bring productivity back to communities.

It is an established fact that agricultural lands were sub-optimally utilised or abandoned altogether due to the misguided and vindictive policies of the previous PNC regime.
This emphasis on agriculture, as noted by Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, is consistent with the PPP/C administration’s aim at positioning Guyana as the hub of food production in the region.

And while it is true that oil is becoming a significant player in terms of economic growth and development, as was repeatedly stated by President Ali, it cannot be done at the expense of agriculture.

Several oil-producing countries had in the past suffered from the adverse consequences of the so-called “Dutch Disease”. Guyana, with its emphasis on agriculture and balanced development, is certainly on the right course.