Canada to fund six-year plantain production and marketing project

LOCAL plantain farmers will soon be receiving full support from a Canadian-funded six-year project aimed at enhancing production and facilitating linkages with local and overseas markets.The Canadian plantain support project falls under a regional programme being implemented by the Canadian Hunger Foundation (CHF) under the name Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL).

PROPEL intends to increase the value of Caribbean fresh produce — in Guyana’s case plantains — through access to high-value markets (HVMs) in the Caribbean and internationally.
Funding for the project for the next six years would be provided through the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) and the CHF, and would be to the tune of Cdn. $100 million.

The CHF disclosed that the PROPEL project would enhance production and improved management practices of the targeted beneficiaries through training programmes in plantain management and agronomy.
These and other goals would be achieved through Farmer Field Schools; the use of extension services; farmer-to-farmer/farm exchange visits; support for on-farm research and demonstration plots/trials; and support to generate high quality planting materials through mass propagation systems.

The project also aims to improve the ability of local farmers to respond to quality standard requirements of markets.

CHF announced start-up of the project in a recent notice in the print media, captioned: “Opportunities for plantain farmers; CHF supporting plantain production in Guyana.”

Participation is open to small-, medium-and large-scale agricultural producers domiciled and/or operating within the main agricultural regions of Guyana, who satisfy certain criteria. One of the criteria which must be met for participation in the PROPEL project, the CHF disclosed, is that the producer must be an individual business, or a producer group (PG), or a cooperative entity engaged in primary agricultural production, with plantains being one of the crops cultivated. The production must be in commercial quantities; in this regard, a minimum of 300 suckers. Additionally, the individual or entity must be willing and able to participate in aspects of the project’s programme, including cooperation with CHF and all other stakeholders, which would include other producers, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and providers of technical services.

The Guyana Office for the PROPEL project is based at the local CHF Caribbean base at 26 Lamaha & Irving Streets, Queenstown, Georgetown. Farmers interested in participating in the PROPEL project can visit the office to get additional information, or call telephone numbers 226-6242, 227-7839, or 226-5891.
(Clifford Stanley)