Black belly sheep from Barbados to begin arriving this week

The first flock of the black belly sheep from Barbados is expected in Guyana by next week.

This was revealed by Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha as he addressed residents of No. 28 Village and surrounding communities in Region Five on Saturday. He explained the 1000 sheep will be transported in smaller flocks over the coming weeks.

“We will be having a 1000 black belly sheep coming from Barbados, the ship will be leaving Tuesday to bring these sheep,” the Minister stated.

The sheep are expected to arrive in Guyana within 48 hours after departure from Barbados. Before the sheep were cleared to be shipped, they were placed in quarantine to minimise the risk of importing diseases here.

The government’s Black Belly Sheep project was launched back in March by President Dr Irfaan Ali.

The project forms part of plans to boost the region’s food security with Region Five being positioned to become the livestock capital for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

It is an investment of US$3 million for 2000 black belly sheep. The second batch of sheep will arrive shortly.

Close to 100 farmers have already signaled their intention to be a part of the project making close to 1400 acres of their land available.

“The president has instructed that 30 per cent of women and 20 per cent of youth must be involved in the project, not only men,” the Minister noted.

The government in its 2022 budget has earmarked $28.7 billion to ensure the rapid growth and development of Guyana’s agriculture sector.