–Minister Mustapha says

LEADERS from both international and regional spheres consistently demonstrate their interest in collaborating with Guyana to enhance food security in the Caribbean and beyond.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, conveyed this information during his meeting with Her Excellency Ms. Linda Te Puni, the recently appointed Non-Resident High Commissioner of New Zealand to Guyana.

Minister Mustapha disclosed exclusively to the Guyana Chronicle that he and Commissioner Linda Te Puni engaged in productive discussions concerning the prospective agricultural partnership between Guyana and New Zealand, capacity development, and food security.

According to Minister Mustapha, “I am happy to report that during a courtesy call from Commissioner Linda Te Puni, we had meaningful discussions on several areas in agriculture, and they are willing to assist us, and build capacity not only in crops but also in livestock. As part of the discussions, there were suggestions that we share or transfer technologies from New Zealand to Guyana, since we are looking to build our dairy industry.”

Having heard about the integral role that Guyana plays in the agriculture sector, Minister Mustapha said that “the commissioner was very excited to see the role of all that Guyana has done and will continue to do in helping the Caribbean in this sector. One of her stops was to the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), where she got first-hand experience of what we do there.”
The agriculture minister also related that the New Zealand High Commissioner was “impressed” with what she has seen in the country, as well as the vision that Guyana has for the region when it comes to food security.

“She was very impressed with what we are doing in Guyana, in terms of promoting agriculture and pushing the food security agenda of the Caribbean Community and Common Market,” Mustapha related.

He further stated that the High Commissioner also mentioned that after her return to New Zealand, she will “definitely” explore the possibility of Guyana and New Zealand working in various areas of the sector.

He noted, “New Zealand would have given to CARICOM US$1.6 million for the greenhouse projects for women and youth in agriculture, and all the CARICOM countries are looking to tap into that so that they can develop and enhance their people’s lives.”

Mustapha is optimistic that the countries that have not had any such programmes will capitalise on the opportunity that is now given to them by the commitment from New Zealand.
He also added that Guyana will continue to help the CARICOM countries move forward in a progressive manner.

“We have started work in Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago, and very shortly we will do some work in St. Lucia to build these shade houses. We are helping St. Lucia build a hydroponic project so that they can start to produce their own leafy vegetables, too.”

Finally, Minister Mustapha added that he was “extremely pleased” with the interest and feedback that was shown and received by the CARICOM leaders at the recently concluded summit held in Guyana.

According to him, “many countries in CARICOM would have already started to reduce imports. For example, from 2021 to 2022, Guyana reduced imports by 14 percent, St. Vincent and the Grenadines reduced theirs by 17 percent, and the Bahamas reduced theirs by 2 percent. You can see the trend that has started across the Caribbean.”

He added: “I also believe that the target that we have set ourselves is to reduce the food import bill by 25 percent by 2025. We are very optimistic that we will achieve that target, and we have to continue with what we are doing and ramp up production to ensure that we continue to expand in certain areas. We have to prioritise commodities that have been attracting large amounts of revenue to import into the Caribbean. I must also say that I am very satisfied with the feedback and responses from our leaders after my presentation during their visit to the Forty-Sixth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.”