Mustapha is transforming agriculture

Dear Editor,

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, ensures that the transformation in agriculture is also about ensuring that Guyana does not depend only on one or two agricultural commodities. The government is supporting programmes and expansion in livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, fruits and vegetables, soybean and corn production, apiculture, agro-processing, high-value crops, mechanised agriculture and a rapid hinterland agricultural investment.

Let’s look at Region 10, for example: agriculture is being positioned as a potential driver of investment, entrepreneurship and employment, with attention to soybeans and beans production, livestock, mechanisation and high-value crops.

Today in the hinterland communities, the emphasis is also shifting toward commercially sustainable production and agro-processing, turning raw agricultural products into higher-value goods such as farine, cassava bread, cassava starch, cassareep, packaged spices, honey, pepper sauces, jams and juices.

We are seeing investments in the weekly farmers’ markets in all the regions. This initiative is intended to give consumers access to affordable local produce while helping farmers to receive a better return by creating more direct links between producers and consumers. And this is important because agricultural development is not only about producing more. Farmers are now able to sell what they produce by having better production, storage, transportation, marketing, processing, and access to consumers.

We all know that Guyana cannot build a sustainable post-oil economy without a strong and productive agricultural sector. Agriculture creates employment in rural communities, supplies food to the population, generates export earnings and provides raw materials for agro-processing and manufacturing. It also creates opportunities for young people, women, entrepreneurs and communities across all 10 administrative regions.

That is why the minister has been focusing heavily on agricultural transformation and views it as part of Guyana’s broader economic transformation.

Brothers and sisters, the comparison between the two periods is therefore significant, because our farmers who previously faced sharply increased land and D&I charges, taxes on agricultural inputs, declining investment and the closure of major sugar estates are now operating within a policy framework focused on reducing production costs, rebuilding infrastructure, expanding markets, increasing production and attracting investment.

Under Minister Mustapha, the direction of policy has changed from higher production costs to cost reduction. From abandoned and deteriorating infrastructure to rehabilitation and expansion. From declining sugar production to rebuilding the sugar industry. From reduced investment to increased investment and diversification.

From limited market opportunities to expanded domestic, regional and international markets. From traditional production to technology, mechanisation and climate-smart agriculture. From treating agriculture as an ordinary sector to positioning agriculture as a pillar of Guyana’s economic and food-security future.

Today we have an opposition that is finding fault in everything in this country, especially in the development within Guyana’s agricultural sector. We all know that we are facing and will continue to face challenges in the industry because, in any industry that is growing day by day, several challenges come; the opposition doesn’t know about growth and how to manage growth.

Around the world — and Guyana is no exception as the opposition wants to put it — farmers continue to deal with adverse weather conditions, climate change, input prices, financing, labour, markets, transportation and international competition.

Agricultural transformation is therefore not a finished project. But the direction is unmistakable.

This government objective, from what we are all seeing (except the opposition, who seems to be suffering from poor sight), is to build an agricultural sector that can feed Guyana, create jobs, generate investment, expand exports, strengthen rural communities and contribute to regional food security.

As we celebrate Agriculture Month 2026 under the theme, “Innovate, Nourish, Grow. Building a Sustainable Guyana,”^[1] it provides an appropriate framework for examining where the sector is going. Technology is being introduced. Infrastructure is being rebuilt. Production is expanding. New commodities are being developed. Farmers are being connected to markets. Young people are being encouraged and helped to enter agriculture and investment is being directed towards creating a modern and more diversified agricultural economy.

That is the transformation being pursued under Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and the People’s Progressive Party government. Minister Mustapha has been transforming Guyana’s agricultural sector over the years. He is building a stronger and more sustainable agricultural sector for the next generation of Guyanese.

That’s what a caring government does.

Thanks to the vision of the PPP/C government.

References

1. SOPHIA FARMERS’ MARKET TO OPEN EVERY WEDNESDAY WITH CHEAPER PRODUCE - HGPTV - Guyana's Nightly News and Entertainment Channel — www.hgptv.com ↩