As part of its contribution to the reduction of food imports and Caricom’s food security plans, Guyana has gotten the ball rolling by putting up 25,000 acres of land for private farmers to invest in and that amount can increase as the plan is assessed, President Irfaan Ali declared.
“An open call was made to Caricom. Guyana is willing to put the land assets up and if the Region can bring in the investment… we can catalyze that land in increasing food production,” the President said on Sunday at a press conference he hosted at State House.
“This has always been the case of Guyana and those lands are lease lands, but we are advancing and not waiting,” he added.
It was a Caricom communique of March 3rd that first informed of the offer of the lands.
It stated, “Heads of Government recognised the challenges to the achievement of the reduction of the Region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025 and the need for increased financial support, including through national budgets. In that regard, they committed to addressing the investment required and the attendant implementation timelines to achieve that objective and agreed to the staging in Guyana of an Agricultural Investment Conference on 19-21 May 2022 to accelerate the process of identifying alternative financing solutions.”
“They welcomed Guyana’s offer of 25,000 acres of land to facilitate corn and soya production as well as to train 30 persons in the construction of shade houses aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and output,” it added.
The communique noted that heads of Government also welcomed Suriname’s offer of land for agricultural production.
According to the President, “the 25,000 acres is not the end all” as the demand for produce such as corn and soya alone is so great, more will be needed in the future as other crops are also feasible.
Ali pointed out that food security and Guyana’s contribution is nothing new as he referenced a similar programme under the Bharrat Jagdeo presidency here. “I gave you the figures earlier, on how much corn will have to be produced for the region. Now Belize is producing some of that already. Suriname will also be producing some of that. So, we’ve made it very clear and this is not only now. We can go back to the Jagdeo Initiative on agriculture,” he noted.
The Jagdeo Initiative did not produce tangible results.
Asked about who will be the farmers, he replied, “the farmers can be Guyanese, they can be anywhere from the Region. The farmers will come with the investment but it will be a collaborative effort.”
Using as an example the private sector soya bean and corn for livestock trial in the intermediate savannahs, Ali said that Guyana has “already started in terms of corn.”
“As you’re aware, we’ve already started this process with a consortium of farmers in Guyana. We’ve started the process on corn production, with the poultry producers. They have started that so, we have land that has been identified in that area,” he said.
The initiative is being spearheaded by a consortium of businesses in the livestock production industry. They include the Guyana Stockfeeds Ltd, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM Wood, Dubulay Ranch, Bounty Farm Ltd, and NF Agriculture.
Government has budgeted some $887 million for the infrastructure needed to support the large-scale cultivation of corn and soya bean by the private investors in order to safeguard the country’s livestock feed supply.
During this year’s Budget presentation, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, disclosed that government has committed $236 million for the procurement of a drying and storage facility and an additional $225 million installation and other works.
A further $426 million will be spent to complete the rehabilitation of 47 kilometers of a vital Ituni to Tacama farm-to-market road, starting from the junction of the Linden/Ituni road and heading east towards the Berbice River. Last year, some $102 million was spent to commence rehabilitation works on the road.
“This initiative sets the stage for large scale cultivation of corn and soya bean and related agro-business development in the Tacama area… and will open up approximately 61,000 hectares of prime farmland in the Tacama, Wiruni, and Ebini Savannahs on the eastern side of the Berbice River,” Singh had said.
Ali explained that lands in the intermediate savannahs will be used and Guyana will showcase to investors at the planned regional agriculture investment conference, scheduled to be held from May 19 to 21, the potential for agricultural exploits here.
“That is why the investment forum is coming, so we can highlight our competitive advantage, which is fresh water, arable lands and of course, we have lands in the intermediate savannahs and hinterland communities that we are now looking at for expanded agriculture and the prospect of meat production,” the President said.
