GS Jagdeo targets high food costs with expanded farmers’ markets

Acknowledging that more needs to be done to curb the surge in food prices, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that more farmers’ markets will be launched to bring goods directly to the consumer.

Dr Jagdeo revealed the strategy during a speech at a public meeting in Enmore on Monday evening.

Farmers’ markets refer to specially organised events where producers of fruits, vegetables, and other food items gather at a central and accessible location to sell their goods to consumers.

This automatically reduces the cost of transporting these goods from the farms to the already existing marketplaces.

“The food prices, we did not have the same sort of success, and that is why in the next term we said we have to focus more on cost-of-living issues. We will get cheaper cooking gas [and] farmers’ markets,” he noted.

The general secretary, who is also the Vice President, noted that although Guyana’s food supply is increasing significantly, transportation costs are preventing market prices from dropping. Dr. Jagdeo also mentioned that the costs of imported goods to produce food add to the complexity of the situation.

“So, we have to make sure that we help people grow out of this. And we’ll do that by putting more money in your pocket, by taking away some of the costs from them so that they don’t have to fund these costs,” the general secretary noted.

A new, state-of-the-art fertiliser plant is already on the cards to be constructed in the next few years.

Over the last few years, several interventions have been made by the PPP/C government to control the rising cost of living. For utilities such as water and electricity, the Irfaan Ali-led administration instituted a 5% discount and US$80 million subsidy on bills, respectively. For every gallon of gas purchased, the state has introduced a more than $500 subsidy at the pump. This is coupled with its decision to remove all excise tax from the importation of fuel.

“We lowered [mortgage] market rates and we also liberalised telecommunication to keep the internet rate down,” the vice president added, noting that a holistic approach was taken to address the high cost of living.