Government officials report that rice farmers in Guyana’s Regions Five and Six are being verified as eligible beneficiaries for a recently announced rice farmer assistance programme led by President Irfaan Ali. Multiple outlets say Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha meets with rice cultivation or regional verification committees from the two regions to review results from field assessments and verification exercises conducted after series of visits to farms. The programme is described as a large assistance package of about US$3 billion. The number of verified farmers varies by outlet: Kaieteur News and Guyana Chronicle both report that more than 2,800 farmers are being brought into the verification process for the programme, while INews Guyana reports 2,271 farmers verified from the same regions. All accounts indicate that the verification work is carried out by committees established to identify eligible farmers and confirm findings from field visits. The meetings on Wednesday are presented as part of the next steps toward distributing assistance, following completion of the verification stage.