Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme launched by President Ali

President Irfaan Ali earlier today launched the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship
Programme aimed at bolstering the agriculture sector, empower youths and create jobs.
During the launch at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Ali said that the programme
will be one part of a “more macro vision” that would eventually be expanded to every region in
the country. President Ali announced that the Government will provide all the resources and
materials to develop 25 shade houses in the first phase that will be used to house thousands of
high-value crops such as broccoli and cauliflower.
He said that the project would be done through interagency and inter-ministry support systems
that will see collaboration from the Agriculture Ministry, the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry,
the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry and the Joint Services, among other groups. Ali
noted that according to data, the shade house production per cycle is expected to be 3000 pounds,
and with three cycles per annum, it will jump to approximately 9000 pounds per year.
He disclosed that the wholesale value of this, is $57M, while the retail value stands at
approximately $112M. “So you are talking here about a business that can generate in a net sense
using these three costs, close to $60 to $70M annually,” the President said.
President Ali declared that the programme will be expanded in the future to have about 300
shade houses across the country. He disclosed that these shade houses will be managed by past
and present agriculture students, who will form themselves into a company, with each becoming
a shareholder.
Ali noted further that an advisory committee would assist them in setting up and coordinating
their company and operations.  They are also expected to manage their business on a rotational
basis. “What will take Guyana forward is what we are doing here; building responsible
leadership and having young people lead in that responsible leadership because you are the ones
who will inherit this Guyana that we want to build, and you have to be a key part of building that
responsible leadership,” Ali explained.
The President stressed that the aim is to link the country’s food security strategy to the regional
food security system as Guyana continues to develop its agricultural potential. “So while we’re
working on one hand to expand local production for the local market, we are already eliminating
the barriers to the regional markets, so that we are going to expand this progressively until we are
able to reach into the regional market also. So you have to see yourselves as part of a regional
system and part of the local system,” the Head of State noted.
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
Ali pointed out the importance of agriculture in entrepreneurship, youth empowerment,
innovation and technology, sustainability and increasing local content. “If we are to become the
agricultural food basket of the Caribbean, we have to grow up a thousand times, and to do that,
we have to encourage more people to go into the direction of agriculture and to see a viable

future out of it, and a viable future is not about sitting in an office,” he said. It was noted that the
launch of the programme was attended by dozens of young people in the agriculture sector who
are either currently studying or have already graduated.