Two Guyanese farmers, Javed Ishmael of the West Berbice Sheep and Goat Association and Cindy Halley of the Central Mahaicony/Perth Village Farmers’ Association recently attended an agri-food- systems event. Held in Chile, the event focused on the progress of plans and policies of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming.
The organizers included the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with MERCOSUR, the Central American Integration System (SICA), and several government authorities.
Participants, including those from Guyana, highlighted the need to strengthen family farming by increasing investment and budgets to build new rural development governance in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants also emphasized that it is essential to direct more investments to family farming to combat inequality in territories and provide society with healthy and nutritious food produced more sustainably.
The experience of the Guyanese attendees is expected to serve as inputs for national policy dialogues on the importance of family farmers and positioning small-scale producers at the center of the agri-food systems transformation agenda.
Over the years, the FAO has been supporting the work of smallholders in Guyana through a portfolio of projects to improve the livelihoods of family farmers, and the food and nutrition security of their communities.
In fact, farmers are supported by the FO4ACP Programme, which is being implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). The programme aims to improve access to services to empower women, rural youth and vulnerable communities by strengthening the organizational capacity of farmers’ groups in areas of entrepreneurship, business and operational development.
In his speech, the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean stated, “Between 2019 and 2021 alone, hunger figures increased to more than 13 million people and poverty is projected to reach 201 million people and extreme poverty to reach 82 million people by 2022.”
Lubetkin added, “Collaborative work is required to change this situation, and this must be led by the countries, through their institutions, to advance their priorities.”
He also reaffirmed the willingness to continue working with governments and all actors in the region, civil society, and academia, with technical capabilities to facilitate initiatives that strengthen the bonds of integration and solidarity.
“We must recognize this meeting as an exceptional opportunity to generate agreements that facilitate dialogue and the design of differentiated policies for Family Farming and highlight its role in the transformation of agrifood systems,” added Lubetkin.
