PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to transforming Guyana into a major food supplier for the region, stressing technology transfer, climate resilience and value-added production as central pillars of the country’s agricultural strategy.
Speaking during an engagement with visiting officials from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)in Georgetown, Dr Ali framed the discussions as part of a broader effort to build out Guyana’s agriculture ecosystem and strengthen regional food security.
“ We [are] building out our agriculture ecosystem and our food security as we seek to position Guyana as a major food supplier for the region,” he said.
The discussions were focused on technology transfer, agro-processing and value creation, alongside support for climate resilience and seed production. President Ali also highlighted plans to strengthen laboratories and build a “technical ecosystem and scientific platform” to underpin Guyana’s agricultural and food production systems.
“We are focused on the transfer of technology, agro processing, and value creation support in terms of climate resilience, seed production, and creating the technical ecosystem and the scientific platform through which we’re able to build our agricultural ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, IICA’s director, Muhammad Ibrahim, has pledged sustained technical and financial support for Guyana’s drive to build a regional innovation hub and centres of excellence in agriculture, positioning science and technology at the heart of CARICOM’s food security and climate resilience agenda.
“We are currently developing a new medium-term plan… to continue to use science, technology, and innovation to accelerate the implementation of the food systems,” he said adding that a special programme for the Caribbean is being designed to address the region’s specific vulnerabilities.
He stressed that the initiative is aimed at reducing food import dependence by boosting production and productivity, while tackling long-standing obstacles to intra-regional trade, including transboundary pests and diseases and the impacts of climate change.
The plan, he said, will be presented to an Executive Committee in July, setting out how IICA will invest technical human capacity and resources to fast-track implementation across the region.
“What we need [is] to accelerate production [and] productivity of the system, while at the same time looking at the barriers for trade. IICA has a special programme for that as well as addressing issues [of] transboundary pests and disease in addition to the question of climate change,” Ibrahim explained, noting that Guyana’s President has been a strong advocate for using agriculture as part of the climate solution.
