The community of Wakapao in the Lower Pomeroon, located approximately 70 miles from Charity, Essequibo Coast, is looking seriously at revitalizing its coffee cultivation and bringing more land under cultivation of this crop.
Toshao Lloyd Perreira addressing residents at the meeting
Wakapao Toshao Lloyd Perriera addressed residents from Mora, Yarashirma and the Mission on Sunday. He disclosed that the Village Council would be utilizing its presidential grant for the month of July to further boost coffee production.
Perriera said the decision was made at the council level after it was recognized that farmers in the community were not making sufficient incomes from the logging business. He said that while logging is the main economic activity for the community, over the years, coffee has played a pivotal role in providing incomes for the residents. He alluded to the fact that the plant can be found almost anywhere in the village, and mentioned that coffee, in the past, had made the village of Wakapao highly recognized, since they had won the “Coffee Gold Award”.
According to him, the soil in Wakapao is very fertile and has special nutrients for the growth of coffee. Perriera outlined that the community has large acres of untouched land, and with the upcoming project, many persons within the nine communities of Wakapao would see themselves farming coffee, rather than being engaged in logging.
He pointed out: “We have a well established coffee factory that has lots of valuable assets amounting to millions of dollars. All we need is the necessary finance to get it back up and running”. The toshao said that, by executing the project, money from the grant will be utilized in purchasing agricultural tools such as cutlasses, hoes and files for over sixty farmers.
He said that the initiative to revitalize the coffee industry is in full consonance with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and will see farmers earning more. He said that the community tractor will also help in transporting the coffee beans. “You farmers will gain more money – Gy$400 per kg of coffee beans. You have to plant; the more you plant, the more you will earn. Logging is running at a loss presently, and we are destroying our community, which is not healthy.”
Perriera also said that the project will provide women in the community with employment. “Once the factory begins to function, it will serve as a cottage industry for women in the community, thus making them self sufficient.” Region Two Chairman Alli Baksh, who was at the meeting, applauded the decision of the village council to boost the coffee industry. He advised residents to work together with the council to achieve the plan. He encouraged families to get onboard and start cultivating coffee, which will make them earn more.
Send your children to school
During his visit to the community, Baksh told parents that educating their children should be their priority. He stressed that government has put in place the necessary educational facilities in the various communities to boost the delivery of education.
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