Shade-house, tools to push agriculture handed over to Plaisance Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Less than a week after meeting with members of the Plaisance Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Friday handed over a complete shadehouse set along with a number of agriculture tools to assist the church with developing their agriculture programme. 

On Sunday last, Mustapha met with some of the church’s leadership, who reached out to the ministry for assistance with developing their agriculture programme.

During the meeting, Mustapha told the members that he was elated to know that organizations were taking the initiative to get involved in agriculture. He further stated that when religious and other private and public organizations get involved in agriculture, Guyana will be able to play its part in ensuring regional food security.

While making the presentation at the ministry’s Regent Street office on Friday, Mustapha complimented the church’s leadership for taking the initiative of getting involved in agriculture.  

“These are exciting times for the sector because we can see that it is moving apace and developing rapidly. These efforts are needed if we are to achieve food and nutrition security as a country and as a region. When I met with the group last Sunday, I made a commitment to assist them with some tools to develop their farm and start their crop production. I hope that other groups can see this and take the initiative to develop similar programmes,” a press release from the Minister of Agriculture quoted him as saying. 

While expressing thanks for the timely donation, Alison Wilson-Hetsberger, one of the church’s directors assured the minister that the items will be put to good use. 

During his visit to the church last Sunday, Minister Mustapha conducted an assessment of the available land space after which extension staff from the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) visited the location to develop a plan of action to move the process forward.

The minister also encouraged the membership to include the youth arm of the church in the project.

“When we think about agriculture, we see it as a labor-intensive job for older folks. Now, with the technological advances in the sector, younger people are expressing an interest and coming on board. Here is your opportunity to integrate your youth groups into the project so that they too can understand the importance of agriculture to our country’s and the region’s development and growth,” he said.

(Modified Ministry of Agriculture press release)