Brief Note: The SWM Programme in Guyana is part of the SWM global Programme, a major international initiative working to improve food security and the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife forest, savannah, and wetland environments in 15 countries of which Guyana is a part of, specifically the Rupununi Region. This is a five (5) year project (2018-2023), funded by the European Union and implemented by GWCMC (nationally) and CIFOR (internationally).
In 2019 RLPA as the local grass roots organisation promoting livestock in the Rupununi was identified to implement the Livestock Component of the SWM Programme in Guyana. https://www.swm-programme.info/homepage
https://www.facebook.com/Sustainable-Wildlife-Management-Programme-Guyana-583231958765039
The livestock component of the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme aims to explore, through meaningful interventions, to what extent improved access to domesticated livestock reduces pressured on wildlife as a source of meat, and whether improving the viability of livestock production makes livestock more attractive than wild-meat as a source of income.
The objectives of the livestock component of the SWM (Guyana) programme are: (1) Ensure people in the Rupununi have improved access to a domesticated source of animal protein that they can afford (food security), (2) Increased incomes for people in the Rupununi who rear livestock for sale, (3) Livestock rearing in the Rupununi is done within the landscape’s environmental limits (limits).
Our Approach: Reflecting and learning is central to how we work. We run small pilots (experiments) to test what we think will work, and measure to what extent it does (or doesn’t) work. When we’ve completed enough pilots to be sure we know what will work, we move on to scale up, offering the solution to more people in the Region. We keep a good record of our decisions to enable the wider SWM programme to examine why some things worked and some didn’t, so they can inform what happens in other countries.
Beneficiaries: Women, children and men from rural and urban households in Region 9, Institutions in Region 9 including hot-meal kitchens, hospitals, restaurants and dormitory school kitchens, Livestock producers including Village Councils, individuals and groups and Retailers of livestock products (butchers, shops, supermarkets)
Brief note: The Egg Sandwich project will enable consumer access to affordable local high-quality chicken and eggs in Guyana’s hinterland regions (1, 7, 8 & 9) by strengthening the capacity of hinterland poultry producers, and the producer organizations that support them. Furthermore, safeguards will be introduced to ensure that health, safety, social and environmental sustainability underpin the transformation of poultry production in the hinterland.
The Implementation Agent(s) are The Consultancy Group (Lead) https://theconsultancygroupinc.com and The Rupununi Livestock Producers Association (Supporting Partner)
Project Funding: This project is being funded by the Greater Guyana Initiative a partnership with the Stabroek Block co-venturers ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC; and the People of Guyana. http://greaterguyanainitiative.gy
Project Location(s): Region 9 (Phase-I), and subsequently also in Regions 1, 7 & 8 (Phases-II & III)
Proposed Start Date: 1st November 2021
Project Duration: 4 years in three phases
Project Beneficiaries: The project is estimated to benefit 70-80% of households in the hinterland regions. Phase-I interventions which relate to access to affordable chicken meat and eggs are expected to impact the vast majority of households in Region 9, given the ubiquity of chicken consumption. It is expected that women will be primary beneficiaries as they constitute the bulk of “backyard” subsistence producers in the hinterland, and can expect to derive both nutritional and financial benefits from the production of poultry. Children will benefit from improved access to protein, which will contribute to the government’s efforts to reduce stunting in hinterland communities (which though declining is still comparatively high compared to children in coastal communities).
It is further expected that the demand and production interventions under the project will advance opportunities for commercial producers and other value chain actors, including food retailers. Commercial producers in Region 9 play an important role in both the urban supply of poultry products, and the supply to the hospitality sector.