Newly-appointed Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said he intends to set up a national think-tank committee to help push the programmes of the agriculture sector. He made the comment while addressing heads of departments under the ministry’s purview during a meeting on Tuesday. The aim of the meeting was to familiarise himself with the departments and agencies.
In his address, Minister Ramsammy said that he is poised and ready to take the agriculture sector to greater heights during his tenure as minister. He said agriculture must not only be seen as growing and supplying food, but delivering high- quality food that is safe for consumption and healthy for the population.
Guyana, he said, must not only strive to become food sufficient but produce the type of food that will help Guyanese to acquire the average daily calories and micro-nutrient needs.
Newly-appointed Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy
“And, therefore, as the new minister of agriculture, I would like to follow that approach … as well and develop the sector to the level where it can contribute more significantly to the economic development of the country,” Minister Ramsammy asserted.
He said he will be looking at developing farming across Guyana, where both traditional and non- traditional agricultural communities would be able to tap into the export markets and “thus transform into entrepreneurial activities”. The vision for the sector, he said, is for Guyana not to be only seen as a producer of raw material but as a genuine industrialised country involved in the production of value-added products.
To ensure this vision becomes a reality, Minister Ramsammy explained that the ministry will embark on the establishment of the think-tank involving a wide range of stakeholders from both within and outside the agriculture sector.
The ministry, he said, has already begun drafting proposals and terms of reference for the establishment of the committee. Minister Ramsammy also visited the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA), where he met with the agency’s heads of departments and managers.
