NINETEEN participants from Guyana and St. Lucia received certification after participating in a four-day training exercise in Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).

The programme was a collaborative effort among the Environmental Management Consultants (EMC), the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), and was backed through funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation under the Climate Resilience Grant.

In his address, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that in the face of growing climate-related challenges, the agriculture sector is under increasing pressure to produce more food with fewer environmental impacts.

He noted that the training programme was a step towards modernising local farming techniques.

The event, which marked a significant milestone for the participants, featured both theoretical and hands-on sessions across eight modules, covering shade-house design and construction, crop cultivation and management, pest and disease control, and post-harvest handling and storage.

Participants included farmers from across the country, students from the Agriculture Innovative and Entrepreneurship Programme (AIEP), representatives from the GSA, and trainees from St. Lucia. (MoA)