Black Belly Sheep to make life easier for women, youths and the disabled

The Sheep awaiting to be off-loaded from a boat earlier today after their arrival from Barbados 

Out of an amount of one thousand Black Belly Sheep, Guyana received 132 as its first shipment from Barbados.

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley signed an agreement in March of this year which facilitated the import of sheep to Guyana with an overall aim of strengthening food security in the Caribbean.

The plan is that the sheep be given to farms to assist in mixing their breeds. More importantly, however, President Ali seeks to have the sheep distributed to single mothers, youths, and persons with disabilities to assist them in having a means of sustainable income.

Earlier today, a boat docked at the Rambarran Wharf in Water Street, Georgetown where 20 rams and 102 ewes were offloaded and taken to the Guyana Livestock Development Authority.

The sheep will be gradually taken off their accustomed Barbadian diet and brought onto the food which the local sheep use here to facilitate their proper integration into the Guyana livestock industry.

Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said he is optimistic that the remaining 868 Black belly Sheep will be able to arrive within the next two planned shipments.

When the Guyanese vessel left Guyana last month to receive the livestock, Guyana sent a multiplicity of locally grown produce which are not traditionally grown in Barbados.

That is to help Barbados to diversify the crops grown in that Caribbean state traditionally as the region continues to push its food security status to an acceptable standard.

Guyana itself has been entering and exploring the cultivation of non-traditional crops even as several of them are already growing in parts of the country in trial stages.