Farmers’ markets will be hosted across the country over the coming months as part of efforts to address high food prices, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapaha said on Wednesday.
The move comes amid concerns about the prices of agricultural produce on the local market.
The first of these massive farmers’ market will be held on Wednesday at the National Exhibition Centre, Sophia, marking the commencement of Agriculture Month. This month’s activities will be held under the theme “Innovate, Nourish, Grow: Building a Strong and Sustainable Guyana.”
Farmers’ Markets will be hosted in various parts of the country every Wednesday.
During an interview on the sidelines of the official launch of Agriculture Month, Mustapha said the stark concerns over higher produced foods’ cost is widely influenced by markups by middle-men selling the produce.
“There is not a price control in this country. If the middle men are buying their things from the farmers and going there to sell it with a three or four hundred per cent markup then that is why we are intervening,” the minister said.
He said the government’s response is to facilitate farmers’ markets where producers can sell directly to consumers, cutting out some of the intermediaries in the supply chain.
Meanwhile, Mustapha expressed optimism that agricultural production will rebound by the end of the year. He also said that the farmers have been producing more food but are unable to get direct access to consumers.
“We are producing. Farmers are in the field every day, early and sometimes late in the night but sometimes they are not getting the kind of reward that they have to get,” Mustapha said.
The push for farmers’ markets is therefore being positioned as part of a broader effort to strengthen the agricultural sector while making locally produced food more affordable to consumers.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
