…says clusters to be created to access funding from Development Bank

President Dr Irfaan Ali has pitched several agricultural projects that the Government intends to work with young people and farmers on along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
During a visit to Kuru Kuru on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway on Saturday afternoon, the Head of State discussed a number of developmental initiatives with the residents, including shade houses, stingless bee honey production, and livestock farming.
Addressing the residents, Ali pointed out that many persons have acres of farmland that are either unused or underutilised. He outlined plans to work along with farmers to establish shade houses to produce high-demand crops with short turnovers that would increase earnings.
“What you can do with a half-acre of land with a shade house, you’ll make more money than with five acres of land. With modern farming, you don’t need five acres. You need to have these shade houses so you can do [farming] in a modern way. The five acres will be there, and you can develop those five acres and put like permanent crops, whether it’s the provisions, coconut and other things,” the president stated.
He went onto add that the Government, through the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and private sector stakeholders such as the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), would work along with the residents to find markets for their products.
“We want to help you so that you can increase your income… But you have to have a piece of land that is producing all the time. If you have, for example, in here 50 farmers and you have 50 shade houses doing peppers, celery, shallots and those things, the market is so huge for it that you will have continuous sales,” he asserted.
According to the Guyanese leader, persons can even explore cultivating exotic fruits, hybrid fruits and even more local fruits such as cherry and guava that are in demand by local manufacturers like Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).

Honey production
On honey production, President Ali proposed using stingless bees. He explained, “The honey is clearer, but it’s a new honey that’s coming on the market. So, we want to do a lot of the stingless bees here with you guys. Honey production, that is something that I think has enormous potential.”
Stingless bee honey is a superfood with unique health benefits, containing low-glycaemic trehalulose (which prevents sharp blood sugar spikes) and rich antioxidants.
In Guyana, groups like the Madeweni Queen Bees – backed by the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and the Guyana School of Agriculture – are already engaged in stingless bee farming to empower local women and build eco-friendly livelihoods.

Swine farming
Moreover, the Head of State also spoke about working with residents on a massive swine project. He highlighted plans to build out the pens with funding from the Guyana Development Bank, which offers zero-interest, collateral-free financing of up to $3 million to small and medium-sized businesses.
“[We want to] do a huge swine project here with the young people. So, all those young people and farmers who are interested in the swine project…we can put you in a cluster and have you work on that project,” he stated.
This same approach, according to President Ali, would be used for the honey production and shade house initiatives.
The Head of State has identified Minister within the Housing Ministry, Vanessa Benn, to work along with the young people and farmers from the community to advance these projects.

Other interventions
Meanwhile, during Saturday’s engagements, the president also directed the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) to establish two shallow wells in the farmlands to assist farmers with accessing water for their crops.
This was one of a series of interventions made during his engagements with the residents. At the meeting, President Ali also announced upgrades to the community’s learning centre and ground, including a pavilion, fencing, and spaces for cricket, football, and basketball.
Moreover, he further informed residents of efforts already underway to expand the water distribution network in the area and works being done by the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) to install six megawatts of additional power to be stationed at Moblissa to support Linden and highway communities.
The President has also asked the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Public Works to meet with the Co-op Society to work out how unused land nearby gets used.
More than $1 billion has gone into road works in the area since 2022, much of it done with community involvement, and, according to President Ali, works on another 15 to 20 roads are planned. That work, however, will be scheduled around a land-use meeting set for Tuesday, so it does not run into new housing construction.
The Head of State was joined by Minister Benn and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, during Saturday’s visit.

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