The Amerindian Village of Nappi, located in the Southern Rupununi expansive of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) is expected to utilise its $24 million carbon credit grant to cultivate cash crops which would be resold in supermarkets and stores countrywide.
During a telephone interview with this publication, Toshao of Nappi, Samuel Fredricks, explained that the project would be executed by villagers in partnership with the Agriculture Department of Region Nine. The project entails a total of 25 acres of farmland being cultivated with red peas, hot peppers, and other cash crops.
“One of the things we’re doing first for our crops is we will be using [tractors] to do our land, then we’re doing some fencing using labour from the village. Then we’re doing our crops with…some technical assistance from the Agri Department in Region Nine (9), then we’ll go into the planting of (other) crops,” Fredricks explained.
According to Fredricks, with help from the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), the crops would reach a wider market of people outside of the village. He revealed that the NGMC has promised the village a solar dryer which would aid in drying peppers and other crops, as well as in packaging products and getting them up to the necessary standards.
“We will run it as a business, having people work on the farm…to maintain it, and then we will have another set to do the [reaping] and [others] process the peppers. We are getting a solar dryer from them [GMC] and they promised to help us with packaging and get them up to standards,” he disclosed.
The village submitted its plans about two weeks ago, and it is currently awaiting approval from the authorities to undertake its projects.
Nappi is home to approximately 969 people, and has a range of beautiful tourist destinations. This village is located in the Rupununi savannahs, along the Nappi and Maipaima creeks on the edge of the Kanuku Mountains.
$4.7B distribution
In February this year, a total of 241 Amerindian communities across the country each received grants ranging from $10M to $35 million. This initiative followed the historic agreement signed with Hess Corporation for Guyana’s carbon credits in 2022, which will see the country earning US$750 million for its forest. A total of $4.7 billion (US$22.5 million), which represents 15 per cent of Hess’s payment for Guyana’s carbon credits, was disbursed in the various communities.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has explained that a strict mechanism would be followed to ensure accountability and transparency regarding how the funds would be expended. Each community is required to create a separate bank account so the spending of the funds could be properly monitored. Moreover, the community cannot utilise the funds until a Finance Committee is named and the Village Development Plan is completed and endorsed by the village.
Jagdeo had expressed that the plans should be focused on either empowerment projects in the social sector, job creation, and/or on food security efforts.
