NAREI educates Baramita households on kitchen garden techniques

─ initiative is part of Ministerial Task Force’s approach to improve living standard of Baramita residents

─ initiative aims to promote food security and nutrition through diversifying and increasing crop production

DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, August 14, 2018

The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) is helping ten households in the Carib community of Baramita in Region One to establish and manage kitchen gardens.

The initiative is part of the Ministerial Task Force’s approach to improve the living standard of Baramita residents, especially single parent mothers and members of the Hinterland Employment Youth Service. NAREI’s involvement aims at promoting food security and nutrition through diversifying and increasing crop production.

In a release today, NAREI said that between August 9 and 12, its Hinterland Co-ordinator, Aaron Ramroop exposed participants to practical training in cash crop seedling production and orchard management. The training was conducted on small holdings owned by some participants and at the Baramita Training Centre.

Participants were each given three seed trays and seeds for various cash crops including hot and sweet peppers, cabbage and other vegetables. They also received small packs of ochro seeds and 20 seedling bags to plant soursop and papaya.

Some of the residents who received support from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI)

NAREI, through its Extension Services, will be monitoring the progress of the households.

Baramita is the largest Amerindian settlement in Guyana and the biggest Carib Village in the Caribbean. It is comprised of 22 satellite villages with a population of about 3,500 residents. The main economic activity of the village is mining and traditional ground provision farming.

Newly Elected, Toshao Sharmain Rambajue told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that over the next three years she will be encouraging more subsistence farming and will be partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture to provide technical and other support to the residents. “We have the miners in the area and also the school kitchen, however, we have to send for greens (vegetables) and meat all the way from Georgetown. Therefore, if we have persons within the community supplying the miners and the school, again the monies will be circulated right here and it will also provide employment.”

Synieka Thorne

Image: National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI)