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Govt. farmers’ market initiative kicks off at Lusignan
– consumers cash in on reduced prices, fresh produce
Consumers turned up in their numbers take advantage of a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and agro-processed commodities
Kaieteur News – Consumers from villages and communities along the East Coast of Demerara corridor were the first to benefit from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Farmers’ Market Day – an initiative first announced in the national budget, which government is hoping will cushion the impacts of rising food prices across the country.
Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, told the National Assembly during his budget speech that, “we recognise the fact that there has been some upward movement in the prices at the marketplace for a number of food items. But, we also observe that the extent of the upward price movement at the marketplace is not reflected in similar price movement at the farm gate”.
He added that the increased prices reflect a number of factors, including transportation cost and multiple layers of handling and reselling from farm to final retail. In this regard, Dr. Singh said the government will be arranging monthly farmers’ markets at locations to be specified in East Berbice, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown, East Bank Demerara, and West Coast Demerara in the first instance, with the possibility of extending to other locations depending on the initial experience.
”This will help our farmers find ready markets for their produce, and help consumers benefit from the price advantage of buying directly from the farmers,” the Finance Minister reasoned.
Meanwhile, a Department of Public Information release said the highly anticipated event on Sunday, held at the Lusignan Market Tarmac, served as a one-stop shop for persons looking to purchase farm-fresh produce at a minimal cost. Farmers who usually sell their produce to middlemen who then sell to market and shop vendors traveled from as far as Mahaicony to take advantage of selling their produce directly to the consumers. This way, both the farmers and the consumers were able to benefit from better prices.
While commenting on the objective and successes of the market day, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said the activity served to assist consumers with cushioning the high cost of basic commodities, all while granting them access to farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. “This is one of the measures that the PPP/C Government has put in place to assist both the farmers and the consumers. We spoke about this in the budget and we are already implementing it. We will be hosting similar activities across the country so consumers can rest assured that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of Guyana will continue to implement measures to help them to cushion the high cost of these items. Our farmers are producing but sometimes they too are not able to benefit from the best prices for their produce. So when we organize these activities, both the farmers and the consumers stand to benefit from the direct link to the market. The response has been tremendous and persons can rest assured that this will not be a one-off activity. We will be hosting similar activities in every part of the country from as early as next week. These activities will also be done simultaneously so you may find farmers’ markets happening in Region Two and Region Six at the same time,” Minister Mustapha is quoted by DPI as saying.
One farmer, from Mahaicony Creek, who was at the farmers’ market said he was happy to be a part of the activity. The cash crop farmer noted that the turnout was tremendous, adding that he will be taking advantage of other market days in the future.
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