The Government of Guyana and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) yesterday signed two important agreements.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha signed the first document which is the Country Programme Framework (CPF).
The CPF is the agreement between Guyana and the FAO which sets out the priority areas of work in which the two partners will engage during the period 2022 – 2026. Through the CPF, FAO’s Strategic Framework is translated into actions that contribute to the realization of the national development agenda. This document was developed in close collaboration with the Government and Stakeholder.
The CPF is aligned to the UN Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework MSDCF (2022-2026), the vehicle for defining the UN’s contribution and commitment to support national efforts to achieve economic, social and environmental targets related to international and regional aspirations and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It also articulates FAO’s contribution to the MSDCF and describes how FAO will leverage its comparative advantage to foster synergies and increase effective collaboration efforts with other UN agencies.
Minister Mustapha said that technical assistance from the FAO will play an integral role in Guyana’s efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals agenda and Vision 25 by 2025.
“For the period of the FAO Country Programme Framework (2022-2026), we’ve identified transformation of sustainable agriculture’s food systems; resilient value chains; agricultural community – based disaster risk management; ICT in agriculture; and agriculture de-risking as thematic areas for FAO’s intervention. It is important to note that these areas are well aligned with the CARICOM Agri-food system agenda which is being implemented by addressing the policies that will drive development is those thematic areas,”
The development and implementation of all programmatic interventions of this FAO Country Programme Framework will be guided by accelerators such as technology, innovation, data, and complements which includes governance, human capital, and institutions. While giving attention to cross cutting themes such as gender and youth
Hugh Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations signed the second agreement which is the Memorandum of Responsibilities (MOR) for hosting the 38th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC 38). This document sets out the respective responsibilities to be assumed by the Government of The Co‑operative Republic of Guyana on the priority areas of support.
Signing for FAO is Dr. Julio Berdegue, Assistant Deputy-Director for Latin America and the Caribbean who is here for the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo.
The Memorandum of Responsibilities (MOR) for hosting the 38th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC 38) sets out the respective responsibilities to be assumed by the Government of The Co‑operative Republic of Guyana on the priority areas of support.
The Conference will be held in Georgetown during the first half of 2024, at a date to be decided by FAO. Guyana was selected after a unanimous endorsement to host the conference from all 33 member states present at LARC 37 which was held in Ecuador from March 28 to April 1, 2022.
The Conference is an important forum, where member states meet, identify, and discuss the FAO work programme and provide guidance on the effective implementation of the FAO Strategic Framework in line with the regional priorities of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dr. Berdegué said the agreements represent FAO’s committment to support the priorities of the Government of Guyana as well as a formalization of a decision made by 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to host the upcoming FAO Regional Conference scheduled for 2024 in Georgetown, Guyana.
