The Guyana government announced on Friday that four Cuban experts will help indigenous communities develop and grow honey production.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali said on the concluding day of the annual National Toshaos Conference that his administration has promised to train 150 indigenous people in agriculture and food security.
“We just agreed yesterday to invest in four specialists from Cuba who will come to Guyana to work with you in the communities in building out and expanding the honey industry, and we want to create a common brand of honey that is associated with Guyana’s rainforest that can be marketed as a specialized product,” Ali said.
He also stated during the conference that the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) will be starting an initiative to boost organic honey production in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.
President Ali stated that the upcoming national budget will contain GUY$300 million (one Guyana dollar equals US$0.004 cents) to strengthen food security and agriculture, which have been highlighted as key areas for indigenous people.
Ali also stated that a unit will be established to deal with food security and production in the hinterland.
“We want you, every single region, to identify young people who can be trained to become vets, agriculture support staff, extension officers, and we will train them, pay for their training, and send them back to the communities to work full time with you,” President Ali said.
“We are ready to train 150 of your young people from your regions and communities in these areas right away to support food production, food security, and agricultural expansion.”
Ali stated that the investment will be accompanied by a “robust” program to enhance traditional product manufacturing in Region One.
“We are also collaborating with external markets to develop long-term plans for large-scale production of sweet cassava to meet the needs of those markets.”
“So, before the end of the year, in selected communities, the Ministry of Agriculture will be consulting with you on supporting the development of large-scale cassava production to meet those external markets,” President Ali remarked.
