Leader and Presidential Candidate of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes says if his party is elected into government, he will rename the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Food Security.
Hughes made this disclosure during a news conference on Friday as he outlined his party’s plans for the agriculture industry.
Among other things, the AFC says it will provide subsidies or free transportation of produce from farms to market. The party said it will also establish seed banks in every Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and indigenous community, develop microloan centres for food-related ventures, and build dehydration chambers.
Hughes also revealed that the AFC will develop cassava processing facilities in indigenous communities and ensure more schools are involved in agriculture.
The AFC’s track-record in the agriculture industry has been abysmal. The AFC was in government between 2015-2020, along with its coalition partner, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). During that period, critics say the agriculture sector was virtually dead.
Letter: How APNU/AFC coalition failed Guyana’s cattle industry
During his presentation to the 2025 budget debates earlier this year, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha had remarked that the APNU and AFC politicians “should be the last person to speak on agriculture. They destroyed the agriculture sector in this country”.
During that presentation, the minister had pointed out that under the former administration, sugar production declined by 60% from 231,071 tonnes in 2015 to 92,256 tonnes in 2019. He reminded of the increase in prices for land through the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary/Agricultural Development Association (MMA/ADA), and the loss of the Panama rice market.
After four years in government, he said the PPP/C has transformed the sector so that Guyana can take its rightful place in regional food security.
“A new era is dawned now from 2020, an era where Guyana’s credibility has been restored to the world, an era where Guyana is making its contribution to the world in terms of energy, in terms of food security and in terms of climate change. We are leading in those areas and we are being recognised around the world,” the Minister had expressed.
Highlighting some of the achievements in the agriculture sector under the PPP, Mustapha said the production of brackish water shrimp increased from 10,000kg monthly to 120,000kg to earn $1.8 billion for the aquaculture industry.
He noted that the industry has also commenced producing prawns and started the marine cage culture in aquafarming.
“When we talk about the marine cage culture, many of them talked that those technology cannot come to this part of the world, that those things can only happen in Asia….we brought it here, we did the pilot test at Mashabo, Mainstay and Capoey. It was successful and we are in the process of installing another 50 cages in different interior locations” he explained.
Aside from aquaculture, the ministry is building a hatchery and a feed mill, increasing the production of corn and soya, increased livestock by 24%, commissioning a swine abattoir, and many other investments.
Letter: The neglect of agriculture in Guyana under the APNU/AFC
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