UNDP Guyana Programme Cycle to include Climate Smart Agriculture, Early Warning Systems for flooding, financial management for farmers
–Agri. Minister, UNDP Resident Representative discuss possible areas for collaboration
With December 2021 marking the end of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) current five-year programming cycle, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha today met virtually with the organisation’s Resident Representative, Jairo Valverde to discuss areas of interest for Guyana, particularly for the agriculture sector, for the upcoming programming cycle.
The UNDP is currently developing its 2022-2026 country programme for Guyana, and has since engaged the government for its input based on what was outlined and prioritised in its developmental agenda, in which agriculture plays a major role.
During the meeting, Mr. Valerde noted that, as is customary, the new country programme will be aligned with the government’s policies and priorities, as they were articulated in the government’s manifesto and 2020 and 2021 budget presentations.
“The country’s corporative framework, the sustainable development goals, and UNDP’s own strategic plan. We hope that, as we look at our next five years, we can build on the history that we have in Guyana. Some of the things UNDP has done in the past include capacity building, whether it is with agriculture extension officers or with farmers on things like participatory integrated climate services for agriculture. Farmers will have climate information as they do their planning. We can also look at training farmers on entrepreneurship, for example, financial management planning. We can also continue the work with micro-grants to village councils or disaster-prone areas as we’ve done in Regions Five, Six, and Nine. These works have been done to strengthen community resilience to natural hazards. We think that, over the next five years at the discretion of the government, we could look into things that would be increasing the work of climate-smart agricultural practices, advancing community-based early warning systems, particularly with floods, issues related to the management of chemicals and waste and the blue economy. Guyana will be a beneficiary of our regional project that aids the development which aims to protect, restore and harness the natural coastal and marine capital to catalyze investments in climate resilience, sustainable and post Covid economy,” Mr. Valerde said.
Minster Mustapha said it was evident that the UNDP’s proposed country programme was in line with what the government has been doing since it took office.
“As a government, it is very important for us to move the agriculture sector forward and we will look to our partners for assistance to further advance what we’ve started. For instance, you mentioned climate-smart agriculture. Last year, in the 2020 Emergency Budget, the government had set aside $18.5 million to procure shadehouse materials to promote smart agriculture but we’ll need help to push it and extend it to more farmers and farming groups. By the end of the year, we’ll see approximately 100 shadehouses being constructed under that programme. In addition to smart agriculture, the ministry will also be introducing a programme that involves promoting the cultivation of high-value crops like carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower among the younger population,” Minister Mustapha said.
Furthermore, the subject minister noted that the ministry, through the Pesticide and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) has also been engaging farmers about the harmful effects of chemicals in farming. Over the years Guyana was able to ensure that 70% of the chemicals used in Guyana’s agriculture sector are classified as moderately rather than hazardous of extremely hazardous. Minister Mustapha said the ministry has also been promoting integrated pest management (IPM) and organic farming through the use of organic manure and natural pesticides.
While addressing Guyana’s vulnerability to flooding, Minister Mustapha said that it was critical for Guyana to improve its early warning capacities. Noting that Guyana is still recovering from what is considered the most devastating flood ever experienced in recent history, Minister Mustapha said that effective early warning systems would help policymakers and citizens to prepare for flooding.
“We are now in the process of distributing flood relief grants for the floods that we experienced earlier this year. That flood devastated Guyana’s entire agriculture sector. The early warning system will play a very critical role in ensuring things are put in place to prepare for varying weather conditions. Although the government has invested in improving the infrastructure to combat flooding and other weather-related occurrences, Guyana’s geographical position still puts us in a very vulnerable position. We are below sea level and depend on low tides before we can drain our lands on the coast. With 90% of the population living on the coast it is very difficult to avoid flooding but with an effective early warning system, we can be prepared to an extent,” Minister Mustapha said.