When it comes to Guyana’s diversified agriculture sector, stakeholders agree that it can become the breadbasket of the Caribbean. But if this is to be achieved much of the effort cannot continue to come from men alone. In acknowledgment of this fact, a conference was held on Thursday to address increasing the role of women in agriculture.
The event was held by the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEOC) at the Regency Hotel.
It was also held in observance of International Women’s Day 2023 and focused heavily on opportunities for increasing women’s participation in the sector. It also provided a platform for the participants to express their concerns and challenges faced.
The platform also paved the way for networking opportunities and allowed women in agro-processing to showcase some of their products through the Women’s Agro-processors Development Network.
Some of the challenges accentuated during the discussions were access to technology and innovation, access to finance, value creation and accessing technical assistance. Following these discussions, opportunities were provided for persons to access resources that may help them overcome their challenges which included training to develop business plans.
Indranie Chanderpaul, Chairperson of WGEOC, during her speech at the event noted that Guyana is seeing tremendous development due to the oil and gas sector. But while it is an exciting time, and the nation aims to be pro-industry, Chanderpaul articulated that agriculture will continue to be the country’s backbone, adding that women must be able to play an important role in its continuous expansion.
As she addressed that the cost of living that has now increased, Chanderpaul noted that “putting food on the table can be challenging for many families. We (the WGEOC) believe the way to deal with this issue is to plant our kitchen garden and do things for ourselves. But, we are now moving beyond that to see how women can be involved in economic development and to get involved in entrepreneurial development. This is not only to feed your families but to create a business to provide (and) to make money out of it.”
An address was also given by the Deputy Programme Manager for CARICOM’s Agriculture Unit, Milagro Matus, who stressed the importance of the roles of women and youths in ensuring the regional community achieves its 25 by 2025 goal. The initiative aims to reduce the regional food import bill by 25 percent by 2025.
She was keen to note that Guyana and Belize are the only CARICOM nations that are not net food importers. “Seven of the countries (in CARICOM) import more than 80 per cent of the food they consume. Imagine that,” she further emphasised.
Targeting the under-participation of women in the agriculture sector will remain on the WGEC’s agenda, and yesterday’s engagement is one of many to come.
