Cummings, Gadsby-Dolly excited as first cohort chosen for youth agri project

MINISTER of Youth Development Foster Cummings says the government is doing what it can and co-operating with relevant stakeholders to create opportunities for young people to get involved in agriculture.

He was speaking at the orientation ceremony for the Youth Agricultural Shade House Project at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus on Thursday afternoon.

The project was initially launched in September and invited people between the ages of 16 and 35 to apply, noting that only 100 would be chosen.

The one-year certification programme will be done in collaboration with UWI, St Augustine and the National Agricultural Research Extension Institute of Guyana at the Chaguaramas Development Authority Agricultural Park, Tucker Valley, Chaguaramas.

Cummings said there is a false narrative that young people are not involved in agriculture and that the government "supports agri agents of change among our youth."

He said he hopes the project can maintain high levels of innovation, passion and youth leadership within the agricultural sector.

He said 26 acres of land have been approved for the project, adding that another 100 people would get this opportunity both in 2023 and 2024.

He said the absence of tuition fees shows government's commitment to working with people and assisting them.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly congratulated the successful applicants. She said the project "envisages the deepening of the agriculture sector and the reinforcement of food security.

"Partnerships like these have always been most effective when they are based on a shared commitment to community, public engagement, civic responsibility and innovation."

She said this country faces a new set of challenges including high food import bills, high food prices and climate change vulnerabilities that threaten food prices.

"Let us renew our commitment to working together with those government ministries and local and regional entities dedicated to these challenges.

"We as a government would continue to partner with partners in local and regional institutions to invest in agriculture and its downstream is making them profitable, sustainable and – I'd use this term colloquially – sexy to our young people...making agriculture sexy again."

She said if young people aren't encouraged to get involved in farming, it will have an impact on future generations.