President Ali says; reassures public, farmers of gov’t support

THE government has taken a proactive approach to supporting farmers, thereby mitigating the impact of external challenges, and ensuring the availability of essential goods in the market to address the needs of the Guyanese people amidst the prolonged dry season.
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This was according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali, in an invited comment on the sidelines of an event on Monday.
The President said the prolonged dry spell and other factors are impacting production, but the interventions by government remain consistent amidst this natural phenomenon.
“Our farmers are faced with a prolonged dry season– drought conditions. Yield has reduced, productivity has reduced. In some areas some farms are burnt out because of the extreme heat. This has caused a drop in supply,” President Ali said, as he acknowledged the gravity of the situation.
Recognising the fundamental economic principle that a decrease in supply coupled with unchanged and increasing demand leads to price increases, the Head of State outlined the primary issue at hand.

To mitigate the adverse effects on farmers, President Ali disclosed that the government has taken decisive action, injecting significant amounts of funds to assist farmers.
He said that this financial aid aims to alleviate the burden on farmers and address the challenges posed by climatic conditions.
He further detailed specific measures, stating: “We’re helping with fertiliser. We’re helping the farmers. The Minister of Agriculture is working towards having these farmers’ markets across the country.”

The establishment of farmers’ markets is seen as a strategic move to ensure that consumers have access to affordable produce.
President Ali explained the impact of this initiative on prices, stating: “In those markets, you can see the prices steeply different, because of the way the market is structured.”
Addressing the anticipated challenges for the upcoming crop, the President acknowledged the likelihood of a continued dry season affecting crops expected by mid-December.
Despite the external variables beyond the government’s control such as climatic conditions, President Ali assured the public that efforts were underway to support farmers and reduce their input costs.

“We’re working on supporting the farmers so that their input costs will come down. But they are faced with a challenge that even with reducing input costs, the climatic condition is severely affecting their productivity,” the Head of State said.
President Ali further provided valuable insights into the complexities of managing a country, noting the existence of both internal and external variables.
He said that “external variables,” such as global climatic conditions, pose challenges that cannot be controlled by any government.
In response to these challenges, he further outlined the government’s role in minimising the impact on the economy.
“We can’t turn a switch on and say rain will come tomorrow. You can’t do that. What the government does, is that when these external shocks and variables exist, that you can’t control, you try to minimise the impact,” President Ali said.

Despite the inability to control external factors, the Head of State highlighted the success of government policies in minimising the impact on key economic indicators.
“If you look at our inflation rate, and if you look at the numbers, you will see that the policies and the type of measures that we’ve put in place have minimised that impact substantially,” President Ali said, as he spoke about the government’s proactive measures.

He drew attention to the low inflation rate and the continued availability of food on the market, showcasing the effectiveness of the implemented policies.
While acknowledging the persistent challenges, President Ali reassured the public of the government’s commitment to supporting farmers and ensuring food availability.
“Whilst we are working on the supply and demand and the pricing, there are markets because of the climatic conditions that they’re working primarily on getting food on the shelves,” he said.

Earlier this month, President Ali announced that the government will also allocate $850 million for the purchase of fertiliser for distribution to farmers.
It is expected that this support will benefit 287,000 acres of cultivation and 35,000 farmers; and this will ensure increased food production and containment of cost.