Young Lindener on a mission to make his hometown self-sufficient

Oct 16, 2022 News

By Vanessa Braithwaite-Moore

Kaieteur News – As we celebrate Agriculture month, it is important to recognize particularly young people who are integrally involved in a profession many millennials do not deem important or esteemed.

Agriculturist, Aaron Leitch

However, one youth who is an agriculturist by heart, is Linden’s Aaron Leitch, who coincidently graduated from the University of Kasetsart with a Masters in Tropical Agriculture this week. He was the only Guyanese to have studied in Bangkok, Thailand for that particular programme, which he said proved to be a great challenge. His journey in Agricultural academia started at the Linden Foundation Secondary School, before he pursued and successfully graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture at the Guyana School of Agriculture. Continuing along this path, Leitch completed a Bachelor’s Degree in General Agriculture at the University of Guyana. He also studied soil conservation.

Now he is eager to use that knowledge to integrally contribute to his hometown moving from food-dependency to self-sufficiency. More than 60 percent of the Region 10’s food is imported from other regions. He is explained that there is great risk in depending on others for your basic needs. “The time is always right to feed ourselves. The moment you put your means of survival in the hands of another, you’re automatically dependent on a system of which Region 10 should break away from. Start producing your own food, it’s safer, you become more self-sufficient and the possibility of a healthier and longer life awaits you,” he affirmed

Some of the grapes grown on Aaron Leitch’s farm

Leitch is currently employed at the National Agriculture Research Extension Institute (NAREI) as a District Crop Extension Officer. He, however, goes beyond the call of duty to provide the necessary resources and technical support to farmers while encouraging civilians to turn to the soil. This is very important to him because from a tender age, he saw how agriculture provided for his family’s basic needs and now being a farmer himself, he is seeing the immense benefits this has on his standard of living, more so now that food prices have skyrocketed

Leitch shared that his inspiration to pursue a career in Agriculture, stemmed from real life experiences. “From a very tender age I started experimenting with cash crops then I ventured off to livestock. The mere fact that agriculture could have provided basic needs for mankind, it was a field of interest to me,” he said. Seeing how it benefited his life tremendously, has motivated him to ensure others reap the benefits too, more so the people of his home region. “I personally think that I have the will, the mind and the technical resources to drive this region out of a state of food dependency owing to my knowledge in this field, in addition to my love and passion for what I do.

He believes more can be done from those in authority to transform the agriculture sector of Region 10. Rather than an isolated approach, Leitch believes that a systematic approach needs to be taken by looking at the potentials rather than the current production rate. The focus should be access to suitable agricultural land, access to capital for investment and the enactment of policies which will see equitable distribution of agricultural resources. Until that is done, he will continue to contribute as much as he can.

“I’m involved in a number of community projects and I provide assistance for less fortunate kids who aspire to take a similar career path and I’m involved in a number of charitable work and provide technical services to persons who are interested in agriculture. The fact is that I can use the knowledge that I have and positively impact the lives of those who need it for free. Food clothing and shelter are our basic needs of which agriculture provides, so if I can provide that for humans through my services, I would always be happy in this field,” Leitch related. He also does integrated farming. According to the young man, he has an agriculture outlet that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to other value added products. In fact, he is the first Lindener to reap grapes. Cultivating grapes organically was something many persons told him he could not do in sandy soil, but he proved them wrong and showed that any crop can grow in any soil if you put your mind and heart into the process.

As Agriculture Month is observed, Leitch is encouraging more youths to join the profession and contribute to Guyana as a whole becoming self–sustainable when it comes to agriculture.

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