The following is a statement from Guyana’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Geneva, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy on the occasion of World Food Day 2024:
“AS Guyana joins countries and citizens around the globe to observe World Food Day 2024, Guyana’s food production and overall agriculture production have increased significantly.
“Since 2020, Guyana has led CARICOM’s 25 x 25 Initiative to increase local food production. Guyana can feel proud that we led effectively the drive to reduce food imports by CARICOM. As of today, we can feel relatively confident that by World Food Day 2025, the goal of 25 per cent reduction in food imports into CARICOM will be attained. Already, the reduction is approximately 18 per cent.
“But even as Guyana and CARICOM have reasons to be optimistic, our countries are vulnerable to natural disasters. Guyana faces climate change challenges such as floods, droughts, changing patterns of precipitation, rising sea level, sea acidification, intrusion of salt water into irrigation systems.
“CARICOM countries also face the same problems. But in addition, CARICOM countries face hurricane challenges. Beryl recently caused several of the countries to lose significant parts of their GDP.
“Climate change is real. Our CARICOM countries mostly have to pay for damage, destruction and lost lives that ARICOM contributed little to nothing towards.
“In spite of the many constraints, Guyana and CARICOM can be proud that we continue to make gains in food security.
“At the same time, FAO estimates reveal that a growing number of people, almost 750 million faced hunger in 2023 and 2.8 billion people around the world could not afford a healthy diet in 2022.
“Our own Region – Latin America and the Caribbean – in 2022 had 183M people who could not afford a healthy diet.
“Even more worrying, the average cost of a healthy diet has risen to almost $US4 per day per person. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the average cost was US$4.60.
“Analysis of food cost clearly shows that countries that import more food have a higher average of cost for a healthy diet. This is a concern for CARICOM. Guyana and Belize are CARICOM countries that produce more than 50 per cent of their food needs. Some of the CARICOM countries import as much as 80 per cent of their food needs. In addition, intra-regional imports between our countries are significantly less than imports from outside of the region. We must change this dispensation.
“On World Food Day 2024, Guyana’s President, HE Irfaan Ali is leading the drive to ensure that Guyana strengthens its status as a food secured country. Consider this one example, since 2020, Guyana has increased its agriculture budget by greater than 800 per cent.
“The result is that infrastructure to mitigate the risks of flood and droughts are being dramatically transformed. In addition, research is improving paddy seeds quality leading to higher yield and greater resistance to pests and environmental factors such as increased water salinity, introduction of new crops and genetically more productive livestock.
“Guyana’s Permanent Mission in Geneva is proud of Guyana’s efforts in improving agriculture and food production. We are confident that on World Food Day 2025, Guyana’s ledger will demonstrate impressive improvement in ensuring the right to food is met for all citizens.
“The Mission congratulates President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, the Minister of Agriculture, Honorable Zulfikar Mustapha and the Government.”