Farmers from communities across the country now have access to technical assistance and advice aimed at enhancing their ability to produce food.
This is made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday.
The agreement will help to enhance food security and boost agriculture productivity.
Altogether, this is expected to aid the goal of reducing the region’s food import bill by 25 percent by 2025.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha said the agreement paves the way for assistance to be provided to farmers and stakeholders to improve their skills through the promotion of the use of market- driven activities.
And in doing this, it is vital that technology is integrated.
“For too long this part of the world have been left behind although we are producing most of the food for the world population and I think it’s time for us to work together.
“We have to build the farmers capacity because we know for a fact what our farmers are capable of doing,” Mustapha said.
The project, Mustapha added, will embrace and integrate the approach access the agriculture value chain.
“The Caribbean Agricultural Productivity improvement Activity (CAPA) spearheaded by improving economies for stronger communities in partnership with USAID is a testament of the power of international cooperation in addressing local challenges.
“This $5.3 million Caribbean Agricultural Productivity improvement Activity (CAPA) will help farmers and stakeholders in the fruit and vegetable…industry by promoting the use of market driven agricultural practices and technologies enabling them to easier access to domestic and regional markets,” Mustapha explained.
Meanwhile, USAID Project Management Specialist, Durwin Humphrey, said the agreement will create synergies and resource for some of the pressing issues in the sector here in Guyana.
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