-US$500,000 plan outlines blueprint for modern, data-driven drainage network, efficient water management

AGRICULTURE Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, has announced that Guyana’s first national drainage and irrigation strategy will underpin significant public investments in modern, climate-resilient infrastructure and digital systems across the country.

Addressing stakeholders at a soft launch on Thursday at the Ministry’s Regent Street Headquarters, Minister Mustapha said the National Drainage and Irrigation Strategy 2030 is an important milestone in Guyana’s journey towards building a more resilient, productive, and more prosperous nation.

“I’m very happy to state that this is the first time that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has now a published strategy, which will be [available] very shortly…we will make this strategy public,” he added said.

The US$500,000 strategy is a collaborative effort between the ministry, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). It aims to respond to the high economic and social costs of flooding.

Notably irrigation is a lifeline for the country, supporting roughly 19,000 farms and contributing significantly to public sector GDP, the strategy aims to make the system more resilient, inclusive, and climate-adaptive, particularly for vulnerable and indigenous communities.

A core feature of the project is the development of an integrated, interactive Geographic Information System (GIS)-based data platform that will consolidate NDIA’s assets, agricultural information systems, and more than 25 years of hydrometeorological data. This platform will support real-time monitoring, time-adaptive maintenance, and better decisions on where to locate drainage and irrigation infrastructure to reduce flood risks.

“Climate change is not a future threat; it is the present reality. We know that long ago that was a threat for us, now it’s become a reality. Recent years have demonstrated the devastating impact that floods and drought can have on our community and agricultural production,” he said.

He noted that Guyana is already experiencing “extreme rainfall events” with five to six inches of rainfall in an hour compared to two and three inches in a month in earlier decades.

“It’s an important milestone in Guyana’s journey towards building, as you’ve heard people, the person who spoke before me talk about a more resilient, more productive, and more prosperous nation today,” he said adding:

“Agriculture has been one of the mainstays of Guyana’s economy, and it will remain the mainstay of our economy, and when you look at our national budget, almost or over 75 per cent is being expended in the national drainage and irrigation authority’s expenditure. Why? Because we want to build  resilience, we want to build a modern state of the art drainage and irrigation system.”

Detailing government’s capital push over the last five years the Minister said significant investment has been made to modernise and strengthen drainage and irrigation systems countrywide.

These include the construction and rehabilitation of drainage channels and irrigation canals; upgrading and expansion of pump stations; rehabilitation and construction of sluices and kokers; procurement of more than 63 pumps for installation in various parts of the country; plans to rehabilitate or construct about 92 sluices across Guyana and the construction of high-level canals in several regions designed to operate on a 24-hour basis.

“These investments are not only for agriculture purposes but also for drainage system across the country,” he said, adding that the NDIA must now respond “more responsibly” to rapid development and expanding housing schemes.

Mustapha insisted that infrastructure alone is “not enough”, stressing the need for a “long-term vision” and the capacity to expand systems as the country continues to grow.

A key feature of the new strategy is a national mapping exercise of the drainage system, starting with Georgetown and extending to the rest of the country.

MODERN, DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth, stressed that the strategy is not merely a planning document, but a framework for targeted expenditure on critical infrastructure and technology within the NDIA.

“While much of it takes us into a direction that would overall improve the services we provide at NDIA, it also targets what we are facing, and that is the effect of climate change,” Wordsworth noted, adding that the plan now positions the country to further expand the country’s drainage and irrigation.

Wordsworth underscored that a large part of the modernisation drive is already underway, with government funds being channelled into technology and data systems that will support the new strategy.

He pointed to recent work in Georgetown, where the NDIA has been using advanced mapping tools to support better planning and investment decisions.

“This strategy talks about building a dashboard with all our infrastructure, and this is already an input towards what the strategy envisages, and this now will be executed across the country, where we have the NDIA-managed systems,” he explained.

Wordsworth also acknowledged the role of development partners, referencing the support of and other agencies, alongside the work of the Ministry of Agriculture and local government bodies, which he said had contributed meaningfully to the strategy’s development.

Wordsworth stressed that the strategy is designed to ensure that money spent on drainage and irrigation delivers long-term protection for communities, agriculture, and economic activity.