Improved drainage, access to markets for Ann’s Grove farmers – Mustapha commits

Farmers living in the vicinity of Ann’s Grove on the East Coast Demerara met with Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the Minister committed to assisting the farmers with support to improve their production and access markets to sell their produce.

Mustapha’s visit to the community came days after Prime Minister Mark Philips and other Cabinet members also visited.

The farmers who hailed from Ann’s Grove, Clonbrook and Bee Hive, used the opportunity to raise a number of issues.

They complained that when approached for assistance, government agencies sometimes do not respond. They also said that current drainage and other infrastructure should be upgraded.

According to Mustapha, much focus is being placed on building capacity for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) food agenda and the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) is tasked with helping farmers to access markets to push the agenda.

“GMC has an obligation to help the farmers with the market for their produce and they have been telling me that they are finding the market,” Mustapha said.

He further assured that the foods produced locally can and will access not only the local market but the Caribbean as well.

“Right now I have talks with the minister of Agriculture of other countries, especially Barbados, they are looking now to get fresh produce from Guyana.

“There are ready markets in the Caribbean for farmers’ produce. I am meeting with them to stop or remove all the non-tariff barriers that used to cause our produce not to go into the market,” he said.

These discussions started during the Guyana Energy Conference and Expo held in February at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.

But in order to provide for the markets, the farmers need assistance with accessing plants, breeding animals and the materials to improve their farms. As, such, the minister committed to providing much needed support for the farmers through the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA), National Agricultural Resource and Extension Institute (NAREI) and National Drainage and Irrigation (GLDA).

“We will work with you, with all the farmers and all the issues that you have raised.

“The engineers will visit all the areas to do an assessment. We will start to work to excavate all the major canals,” the minister said.

During the outreach, the minister told farmers that a list of names and contacts would be compiled for the farmers to receive the animals and other support they need.

He added, “We will work with all the farmers to ensure that we help you to get planting materials.”

Among the materials the farmers received on Tuesday are cutlasses, shovels, spade, and fertilisers.