Essequibo residents involved in the President’s Shade House Initiative, which is being piloted under the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, said they have found it beneficial as well as an effective method in the cultivation of some traditional and non-traditional crops.
The project, which has targeted farmers and secondary schools along the Essequibo Coast, is part of the government’s approach to meeting the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) objective of reducing food imports by 25% by 2025.
School teacher Mala Bissessar of Dartmouth Secondary School told Stabroek News that the project has proven to be beneficial to both students and teachers. She explained while students used the initiative to meet their School Based Assessment (SBA) requirement, there was a ripple effect as teachers were also made aware of how they can utilise the system.