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Guyana

Small Farmers Livelihood Program  (SFLP) (2007 – 2011)

Where:

Guyana, South America

Who:

CHF and Guyanese NGOs

Funded by:

Inter-American Development Bank through the Social Entrepreneurship Fund (SEP) and CIDA

Purpose:

To contribute to the reduction of rural poverty in the coastal and near riverain regions of Guyana. To assist poor small farmer groups to increase their incomes by selling their produce through new market linkages through the establishment of the Small Farmer Livelihood Facility (SFLF), which will finance sustainable, market-driven projects.

Objectives:

Achieve a 20% increase in farming income for 1,200 small non-traditional crop farmers through:

  • Improved marketing arrangements and practices
  • Provision of agricultural extension services and training
  • Provision of tangible support in the form of agricultural material inputs

Results:

Beneficiaries in 5 regions and 91 communities have been identified and selected to participate in the program and some 1261 farming households are now receiving training, farm tools and inputs to increase and diversify agricultural output.

A total of US$ 665,000 has been committed to the participating communities to implement projects aimed at increasing yields of existing production and/or introducing new marketable crops.

Agricultural incomes have grown by more than the targeted 20% in the first year of the project. The main constraints have been the identification of new marketing outlets. Farmers seem to prefer existing market outlets and it has been difficult to access new national, regional or international markets. Export opportunities require a higher quality of produce from the farmers and this is being addressed by involving the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) as a partner in the project