The Guyana government on Wednesday launched a US$1.7 million diversification fund targeting hundreds of farmers in the aquaculture, fruits and vegetables and livestock sectors. The initiative supported by the Inter Development Bank (IDB) is expected to be of significant benefit to the farmers in the next few years.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud with beneficiaries of the Agriculture Export Diversification Fund
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said despite the fund was conceptualised in 2006, the project is close to becoming a reality. The beneficiaries were encouraged to make optimum use of the funds, but at the same time honour their repayments.
According to Persaud, it is time that Guyana stopped looking at its potential and work towards making it reality.
Persaud was also quick to point out that the launching of the funds was not done to score points during the elections period.
“I will not sacrifice a public criticism for persons who may do so for their own political reasons; I rather have the people have early access to credit. We cannot shut the country down… peoples livelihoods have to continue,” Persaud stated.
Government has over the years been criticised for not re-opening an Agriculture Development Bank here, but Persaud said looking back, that system was a failure. “We’ve looked at creative ways of providing financing and access to credit to our farmers and we believe the best people to do so is the private sector.”
Government provides incentives to the private financing institutions, so that they can sustain these projects.
Persaud said the initiative has so far been working, pointing out that it was first introduced by government through the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and later by the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry and Commerce (GBTI). Close to Gy$6 billion has been invested in the local agriculture sector in the past five years, and Persaud is hoping that with the new facility now at farmers’ disposal, the drive to boost agriculture export will be accelerated.
