Grovetown: Mr. Ben Smith has two-acre of farmlands under cultivation with cabbage, plantain, banana and cassava. His farm is situated at Moco Moco Settlement, Region Nine- an area that has been susceptible to El Nino and La Nina conditions within recent years.
Mr. Smith, like many farmers, is familiar with the term ‘climate change,’ the phenomenon responsible for the unfavourable climatic conditions. Extended dry periods have caused him to move crops, particularly cassava, closer to the creek while the wet periods bring pest and diseases.
Whilst Government agencies such as the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) have been offering technical support to deal with the impacts Government has embarked on a strategic approach to implement Climate Smart Agricultural practices to assist farmers.
Mr. Smith is among several farmers operating in Regions Nine and Three that today (Wednesday) participated in a workshop focused on Prioritizing Climate Smart Agriculture Practices and Technologies in Guyana Experts. Other attendees include NAREI’s CEO Dr. Oudho Homenauth; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Ms. Delma Nedd; and Country Representative of Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture Mr. Wilmot Garnett. The event was held at the Grand Coastal Inn, East Coast Demerara.
Delivering the opening remarks, Dr, Homenauth emphasized the relevance of this crop modeling project to Guyana’s pursuit of a green economy, which builds on the experiences and lessons of the Low Carbon Development Strategy. This initiative would assist Guyana to develop a more inclusive and comprehensive path to a low emission, low deforestation and climate resilient development plan.
Dr. Homenauth explained that this is the first time that a scientific approach has been taken to model crops in Guyana. Regions Nine and Three were selected as the pilot Regions. Data obtained from this workshop would assist in the crafting of a framework that would guide the modeling in the Regions. The crops that were identified for the project are cassava, plantain, coconut, sweet potatoes, pineapple and rice.
The workshop is a component of a project titled ‘Development of an Evidence-Based, Gender Equitable Framework for Climate Smart Agriculture Interventions, which is grant-funded by the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Guyana. The implementing partners are the Ministry of Agriculture, University of Guyana and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Ms. Nedd stated.
According to Ms. Nedd, Climate Change is the now buzz word that potentially have disastrous impacts on the economic viability of the agricultural land, decreases agricultural production and an increase in heavy rains and drought.
“It must be noted that with 90 percent of the population and 75 percent of the main economic activities concentrated on the low-lying coast, Guyana is particularly vulnerable to negative effects of climate change on its economy, human livelihoods and ecosystems,” she said.
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