COVID-19 brings food challenges for some local farmers, fisherfolk - CARICOM, FAO study
For all the hype and hoopla that has traditionally attended Guyana’s reputation as a producer and exporter of food, a recent study across the country’s ten administrative regions undertaken by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), suggests that challenges associated with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed food availability challenges for some categories of Guyanese.
A media release published by the Department of Public Information ( DPI) earlier this week says that the “assessment” which was conducted between July and August and overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, revealed that farmers and fisherfolk indicated that they had “consumed lesser quantities of nutritious foods because there was not enough food or money to feed household members.”
The DPI release said that the study’s main areas of focus were “on production activities and the livelihoods of farmers, fishers, vendors of agriculture inputs, and food traders.” The study, the release added, sought “to assess income/ production losses; inputs, marketing and supply chain difficulties and shifts in food consumption choices.”
According to the release, the overall assessment deriving from the study and which is embodied in a final report, utilised data obtained through an online survey in which 167 Agriculture Extension Officers, 741 farmers and fishers, 88 vendors, and 116