President Irfaan Ali yesterday launched a US$4.5m Agriculture Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme; Hydroponics, for regions two, five and ten through the Greater Guyana Initiative which is funded by oil companies here.
Ali told the Agri Investment Forum & Expo packed with young people that there has not been a more exciting time for agriculture and development in Guyana and that they should be excited about the prospects of Guyana as they as policymakers and companies with social responsibilities must create opportunities for people to actively participate and realize their potential, “This is a true demonstration of unlocking a critical set of opportunities for over 300 youths in region two, five and ten”, he said.
According to Ali, the 300 young people will be directly associated with the project, “state of the art, innovative, highly profitable, but most importantly integrative in the issues and challenges of climate change and all the effects that climate change brings to the production process.”
Speaking at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, he said that the output of the project will be linked directly to the markets. “This project enables our young people to develop their skills in marketing, in packaging, in promotion”, he said.
He stressed, “They are just not growing crops but they are part of the ownership, they are part of the profits and they are part of the success story of these facilities.”
In launching the programme, the President said, “Today Exxon through the Greater Guyana Initiative programme, Hess and CNOOC will be injecting US$4.5m into the future of more than 300 young people” and the support of the 25 by 2025 (reduction of food imports) programme.
Ali said that the project is strongly supported by the Ministry of Agriculture with its technical capacity as he took the opportunity to compliment Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and their staff in transforming agriculture in Guyana.
Ali also highlighted that agriculture is very different in Guyana today as there isn’t a need to be in the fields for long hours as the hydroponics systems demonstrate that you can achieve a high level of production in very different environments.
However, he said what is needed is the commitment and dedication to those parts of the project, “the best technology cannot substitute for commitment and dedication so we expect you to be fully dedicated to these projects.”
In three to four months, he said, that they were hoping to have the agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship centres established in regions ten, five, and two “and before we get to the energy conference next year we are hoping to have production coming out of some of these facilities.”
Meanwhile, Ali said that the production from these programmes will be utilized in the newly created demand from the hotels.
In order to further support this, he said, they are looking at how to create the world’s most innovative farm for differently-abled people so as to get them an opportunity to participate in this story of development. “Right now we are working with scientists and innovators from IICA to determine how we can create the world’s most innovative farm for persons living with disabilities so they can own a production facility, they can be part of the growth story and they can be part of us achieving the 25 by 2025.”
Ali stressed that the power of agriculture and food production can be used to demonstrate “that we can bring people together” and create opportunities for every single segment of society.
