President Dr Irfaan Ali said on Friday that his government will be expanding the Agricultural and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme to enhance food production and business opportunities for young people. The climate-smart initiative, which includes high-value products grown under shade houses, will now also include poultry farming, aquaculture and the construction of farmsteads.
The President made the announcement to a large group of young graduates of the University of Guyana and the Guyana School of Agriculture on Friday at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) in Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara.
President Ali said that his Government will continue to push an innovative form of agriculture, which employs modern technologies, enhanced land usage and amplified creative approaches which are not only appealing to the traditional male base but also to women and young people.
He said that having more people involved in agriculture would increase food production and ensure sustainability in Guyana and the Caribbean region.
To ensure that the country continues to improve production, the President said that there must be increased productivity, diversification of the cropping system, expansion of the production base, and introduction of new forms of crops, “all aimed at improving our competitiveness, increasing our yield and expanding our market share, whilst at the same time reducing our imports…”
He told the graduates that agriculture can revolutionise their lives.
“Under the Agricultural and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, we want to build agro-businesses. We don’t only want you to get a job, we want you to eventually own your own agribusiness that takes you beyond being an employee.”
The expansion programme would see more innovative approaches to poultry production since demand continues to increase.
“The growth in demand for poultry products is exceeding our production quite often. So, we have to get more investment in the poultry industry but we also have to do it in a more modern, scientific way that is attractive to young people.
The Government also intends to train persons in aquaculture production to increase productivity, while there is a structured regional plan to convert 100 acres of land on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway into modern farmsteads.
“We are taking 100 acres of land on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, the Ministry of Housing is going to do the low-income housing, and then we are going to put the shade houses at the back of these houses, that gives you consistent production, resilience, and combat some of the effects of climate change, so that we don’t lose production, and then we link the production.”
Spearheaded by the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, the programme aims to bring the graduates’ theories into practice, transform the theories into results, and give them the opportunities to earn and build capital.
“Then we’re going to help you with the banks also so that we can create entrepreneurs, agri-businesses—that is what we want. We want to lift you to a higher level.”
