— Mustapha says farmers will gain greater access to financing, freedom to seek better prices

MINISTER of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, has described the establishment of the Guyana Development Bank as a “game changer” for the country’s agriculture sector, noting that its impact will extend far beyond Region Six and provide farmers, young agri-entrepreneurs and other producers across Guyana with greater access to much-needed financing.
According to Mustapha, access to affordable financing has long been one of the major challenges confronting persons involved in agriculture, particularly small and medium-scale farmers seeking to expand production, purchase machinery and equipment, introduce modern technology or diversify their operations.
He explained that while farmers may have the land, experience and willingness to increase production, limited access to capital can restrict their ability to make the investments necessary to grow their businesses.
The Guyana Development Bank, he said, is therefore expected to address a critical financing gap by creating opportunities for producers to access funding on more favourable terms, reducing their dependence on traditional lending arrangements and other forms of financing that may limit their options.
Minister Mustapha pointed specifically to the situation facing rice farmers, many of whom depend on financing or inputs from millers to begin each crop. This arrangement, he explained, can result in farmers being obligated to sell their paddy to the same miller who provided the support, even if better prices are being offered elsewhere.
“Right now, as I’m speaking, farmers, especially rice farmers, have to take inputs sometimes from the rice millers to go into the crop. So, when they harvest the crop, they have to take their paddy to those rice millers. They don’t have a choice because they need financing,” Mustapha said.
“What we will see with the Guyana Development Bank is that these people will be able to access loans without interest, without collateral, and they will repay that loan at the end of the crop when they harvest their paddy. They will have choices now to take their paddy to any miller who is paying a premium price.”
The Minister said this represents a significant shift for farmers, since greater access to independent financing can give them more control over their production and marketing decisions. Rather than being tied to a particular buyer because of financing received at the beginning of a crop, farmers would have greater freedom to seek the best possible price for their produce.
This, he noted, can strengthen farmers’ bargaining power while allowing more of the returns from their production to remain in their hands.
With agriculture continuing to play a critical role in Guyana’s economic development, food security and diversification agenda, Minister Mustapha said access to financing will become increasingly important as the sector expands and adopts more modern and technologically advanced methods of production.
He noted that the Government has already been making significant investments in infrastructure, drainage and irrigation, farm-to-market access, technology, research, livestock development, crop diversification and other areas. The Guyana Development Bank, he said, will complement those interventions by helping producers secure the capital needed to take advantage of new opportunities being created within the sector.
Importantly, Minister Mustapha said the initiative also has tremendous potential to attract more young Guyanese to agriculture and transform the perception of the sector from traditional farming into a modern, technology-driven and profitable business.
He pointed to several Government programmes that have already demonstrated the interest and potential of young people in agriculture, including the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, shade-house farming, hydroponics and the introduction of modern tunnel-ventilated poultry pens.
“But besides that, this will encourage more young people to get involved in agriculture. As you know, the President formed the Agriculture Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme that targeted a number of young people. We have the tunnel-ventilated pens now; before that, we had the shade-house programme and then the hydroponics programme,” Mustapha said.
“A number of young people who would have passed through the Guyana School of Agriculture and the University of Guyana were not involved in agriculture. Now, we see a large number of young people making their livelihoods from agriculture because of the programmes that we have.”
He said groups of young people are already coming forward and indicating their interest in accessing financing to become involved in shade-house farming, hydroponics and tunnel-ventilated poultry production.
“One tunnel-ventilated pen can accommodate 40,000 birds. Every six weeks, you can have a crop of birds and six cycles every year. Imagine, that will be a game changer,” Mustapha said.
He added that one crop could generate between $9 million and $15 million in profit, while mortality rates in modern tunnel-ventilated poultry pens are very low.
Minister Mustapha said the growing interest among young people is particularly encouraging, since the long-term sustainability of Guyana’s agriculture sector will depend heavily on attracting a new generation of farmers, entrepreneurs and professionals who are willing to embrace technology and innovative methods of production.
He noted that graduates of the Guyana School of Agriculture and the University of Guyana, among other young people, are increasingly recognising agriculture as a viable means of earning a livelihood.
The availability of affordable financing through the Guyana Development Bank, he said, can further accelerate this shift by helping young people overcome one of the biggest barriers to entering the sector: start-up capital.
Minister Mustapha said modern systems such as tunnel-ventilated poultry pens demonstrate the level of opportunity now emerging in the sector. With the capacity to accommodate tens of thousands of birds and facilitate several production cycles annually, he said these investments have the potential to generate significant returns while improving efficiency and reducing mortality.
He stressed that he is pleased that initiatives being pursued by the Government are creating a pathway for more young Guyanese to become directly involved in agriculture, build sustainable businesses and contribute to national food production.
For farming communities across Guyana, Minister Mustapha said the establishment of the Guyana Development Bank represents another important avenue through which the Government is creating the conditions for producers to increase their incomes, expand their operations and become more competitive.