US$1M allocated for Agri. survey as Government seeks to increase production

A total of US $1,000,000 was allocated to conduct an agriculture survey under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Sustainable Agriculture Development Program (SADP). The initiative is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The aim of the survey is to capture all farmers in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Ten and the crops or livestock they produce. This will aid in increasing productivity while maintaining sustainable and climate-resilient use of natural resources in Guyana.

At the launch of the programme at the Regency Suites Hotel on Friday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that the survey will assist with developing a register of farmers, detailing what they produce, where they are located, and how much they are producing.

“Over the last two years, we’ve seen a number of initiatives being implemented by the government targeting farmers, a lot of farmers were not captured… It is activities like these that will help us to know exactly how many farmers are in our country, where they are located and the number of crops they are producing,” the minister explained.

A total of 120 tablets, 19 computers, four printers, and 120 survey packages containing jerseys, hats, bags, and stationary were procured at approximately $24,971,000 and approximately 100 enumerators are expected to be trained to conduct the survey in the targeted regions.

Minister Mustapha further stated that the data collected will also assist the government with crafting realistic policies to further develop the sector and the country.

“This survey will help us to set our programmes…Without proper analysis and proper knowledge, we wouldn’t be able to set programmes that capture all the activities our farmers are involved in,” Minister Mustapha said.

IDB Guyana’s Chief of Operation. Lorena Solorzano-Salazar said that the project was important to both the government and the Private Sector.

“The agriculture survey is relevant to enhance the capability of the Ministry of Agriculture for data collection and knowledge dissemination of an agriculture database. This new information will add value to the government for decision making and also to the Private Sector to develop investment in the agriculture sector in line with foreign development priorities,” she noted.

The survey is expected to commence before the end of August 2022.