Wageningen, Suriname


Wageningen is a community resort and an agricultural place in the Republic of Suriname and located in the coastal area of West Suriname in the Nickerie District, at the harbour of the Nickerie river across the right estuary of the Maratakka river.
Wageningen is well known as the rice centre of Suriname. Wageningen has the presence of large piece of fertile land, desired climate with enough rainfall and the absence of natural disasters. The first trials in mechanized rice production started in 1933, and an area of 10,000 hectares was allocated for rice production. The Stichting Machinale Landbouw was founded in 27 July 1949 for the mechanized rice production and a town was constructed for the work force which mainly consisted of former military. The town was called Wageningen after the Dutch city, and university.
The village of Wageningen is located about 54 kilometers away from New Nickerie, the main city of Nickerie district and 203 kilometers away from Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname. Wageningen has a police office, an administrative office and a doctor's. There is also a landing strip for small airplanes for agricultural purposes. In 1973, the four meters high statue Alida was placed in the central square of the village to commemorate 110 years since the abolition of slavery. The statue was created by George Barron and commissioned by Stichting Machinale
Landbouw.
During the 1980s a period of decline started in the rice production, and in December 2010, Staatsolie announced a program of ethanol production from sugarcane. The rice factory of Stichting Machinale Landbouw which closed down, restarted its operation in 2018.

Lokono Shikuabana

Lokono Shikuabana is an indigenous village of the Lokono tribe near Wageningen. Lokono Shikuabana suffer from limited water supply, and only have electricity during the evening. The population is about 115 people.