Agriculture sector in Toka village expanding

Toka, a community located in the North Rupununi, Region Nine, is refocusing its attention on
agriculture, as part of its holistic community economic development plan.
Toka, which has a population of about 300 Makushi people, is involved in small-scale farming of
corn, peanuts, cattle, poultry and bees.  Delano Davis, Toka Deputy Toshao, disclosed that apart
from those crops, most of the households are involved in planting cassava to make cassava
products including farine and cassava bread. “So, what happens is that persons would normally
make the farine and have it on sale and persons would purchase. In fact, before the COVID, one
of our main markets was Brazil,” Davis was reported as saying.

Davis noted that the village is also pushing its honey bee project, where villagers rear and
harvest honey to sell. However, he noted that it is seasonal and therefore, the village council is
seeking ways in which it could develop the production of honey, which has a huge market. He
stressed that Toka is one of the main suppliers of meat including beef and poultry in the North
Rupununi. Davis noted that a slaughter facility is earmarked for the village in the 2022 national
budget. This, he said will allow the village to produce meat on a larger scale. “The abattoir at the
moment is in Annai and so that is a distance to take the meat up there and then sell. So, hopefully
they approve the slaughter pole and we get meat sold right from here, and it would be cheaper
for the farmers to check their meat right here and then sell,” he explained.
The Deputy Toshao disclosed that aquaculture is one of the new areas that the village will also
be exploring. He said through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), two ponds
were dug in the village under the water harvesting project. The ponds will be utilised to rear fish.
“We are working with the ministry of agriculture and we are in contact with them concerning
training for aquaculture…We are hoping to mind (rear) the fish to supply to the community
because we realise there is a lot of consumption of fish from the rivers but the fish in the rivers
are depleting so we intend to farm the fish and sell to community members,” Davis revealed. He
said that under the Hinterland Sustainable Agriculture programme, the village has a Bakery
project onstream, and is improving it cattle livestock and constructing a multipurpose building.
Davis noted that even as the community is developing its agriculture produce, the village council
is working simultaneously with the agriculture ministry to secure markets. The Toka Deputy
Toshao revealed that the intention is to develop a sustainable agriculture programme within the
community, that will lead to sustainable community development through the creation of jobs,
building capacity and creating linkages, locally and internationally.
Additionally, he said 64 farmers and households affected by the May/June floods received flood
relief cash grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. He added that distribution exercise was led
by Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, during a recent outreach.