Over the last several years, a quiet but impactful project has been executed across Guyana—providing  knowledge and invaluable networking opportunities for farmers, particularly women and youth in the  agriculture sector in order to advance their operations and modernise their approach to business.

This ‘Market Actor and Donor Project’ was executed by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and  Industry (GCCI) in partnership with the World University Service of Canada through funding from  Global Affairs Canada, and saw collaboration with a number of organisations and agencies including  the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies— the National Agricultural Research and Extension  Institute, the Guyana Marketing Corporation, Guyana Livestock Development Authority, Guyana  Food Safety Authority, Government Analyst Food and Drug Department, and Pesticides And Toxic  Chemicals Control Board—as well as the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, the Small Business  Bureau, the Tourism and Hospitality Association, and Massy Stores. To celebrate the success of the  programme—funded from Global Affairs Canada’s Sustainable Agriculture in the Caribbean project— the stakeholders held a close-out engagement on July 7 at the GCCI Secretariat.

Secretary of the GCCI and Chairperson of the Agriculture Committee, Mr. Brian Edwards who leads  these efforts noted that the conclusion of this programme does not signal the end of efforts to propel  agriculture, but it is proof of the viability of collaborative initiatives. “We’re not just marking the end of  a project, we are celebrating the way forward of how we do business in Guyana in agriculture… Guyana  Agriculture Connect was born out of a critical necessity—the need to bridge the gap between tradition  and the modern market. We realised for our agriculture sector to truly thrive, we needed to move away  from isolation, silos and short-term fixes, and instead build cohesive ecosystems,” he stated.