A Canada-based, Guyanese-born environmentalist and food security advocate has told Stabroek Business that Guyana’s efforts to expand its markets for locally produced foods in North America must be attended by enhanced efforts to improve on the quality, since its food exports face competition both from other countries in the hemisphere and from agricultural produce grown in parts of North America.
Anan Lololi, who holds a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from York University and is a board member of the City of Toronto Food Policy Council told Stabroek Business that the current focus on food security in the United States and Canada continues to create agricultural initiatives aimed at reducing dependence on imported foods. According to Lololi, the focus on food security at the community level in parts of Canada and the United States has meant that agricultural production is now seeking to embrace “even some of those foods that have been traditionally imported from Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean.”
Meanwhile, according to Lololi, food imports into North America from Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean also face competition from countries like Argentina and Mexico which are capable of producing the same foods in even larger quantities. A founder member and serving executive director of the Afri-Can Food Basket (AFB) a non-profit organization established 13 years ago in Toronto told Stabroek Business that the Guyanese farming community should become aware of the competition it faces for export markets and seek to produce high-quality food for export.
Meanwhile, Lololi told Stabroek Business he shares the view that Guyana would be better positioned to maximize food export opportunities if farmers are able to go beyond the simple process of planting, reaping and marketing.
He is advocating that Guyana move to implement a ‘farm start’ programme which seeks to build businesses out of agriculture. “It requires the committal of resources since technology will be required to create a new farming culture,” Lololi said.
And according to Lololi Guyana is probably ideally positioned to achieve food security given the composition of the immigrant communities that comprise the national population. “The focus on food security can certainly take account of the strengths of both of the major races, taking particular account of the fact that part of our ancestry is South Asian and that South Asians have a reputation for being the best farmers in the world,” Lololi said.
He said the issue of understanding and addressing what he described as “the African-Guyanese food system ought to form part of the International Year for People of African Descent programme being planned for this year.
Lololi, who has delivered lectures in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean on community food security is scheduled to address a local audience on “The State of the African Guyanese Food System,” tomorrow at St Stanislaus College auditorium.
