Considering that the border controversy has remained the dominant motif in relations with Venezuela since independence, having a major portion of the booming rice industry here dependent on sales to Caracas and not even on a market basis but as a barter to redress concessional oil terms was always a difficult proposition. Former President Jagdeo and the late Venezuelan President Chavez must be applauded for coming to the rescue of the industrious Guyanese farmers in 2009 and in the ensuing years. The monies paid to the farmers from the PetroCaribe fund helped to sustain their families and rocket the industry to production heights never seen before. All stakeholders must be grateful for this. The bubble has however burst. Similar in manner to the way in which the Other Countries and Territories (OCT) route to the European Union market was shut in the 90s causing grave dislocation, indebtedness and a shakeout in the industry here. The Venezuelan arrangement of September 2009 was not one ordained by market forces or even mutuality but one solely at the discretion of Caracas. The offer of Guyana’s rice would have come at an opportune time for Caracas as in February of that year President Chavez had ordered his army to take over rice mills as they were refusing to set rice at the price that the government wanted.
This is certainly not the time for blame sharing or trivial dissection of who knew the Venezuelan market would end and when. It is now time for the new government, the Guyana Rice Development Board, the millers and the farmers to share the responsibility of reconnoitring new markets and diligently pursuing these.
Very early on in the life of this administration, Minister of Foreign Affairs Greenidge had affirmed that economic diplomacy would be one of the major planks of the ministry’s work. The pressing plight of the rice farmers will therefore be one of the immediate challenges for his ministry. There is much that will have to be learnt about the rice trading industry but there is also another valuable precept that should prove useful: charity begins at home. The Caricom market now broadly expanded by the admission of Haiti should provide much of the market for Guyana’s and Suriname’s rice. It is true that at times Guyana has been an irregular supplier – particularly at the height of the OCT bubble – and there have been quality issues from time to time as there always will be. That said, it is even truer that the Caricom market has not functioned in the rhythm that was envisaged in the single market. Each territory posed its own challenge in terms of market access. Non-tariff barriers and bureaucratic indifference ruled oppressively. Local rice stakeholders can recite tomes about the exasperation expressed for years at Council for Trade and Economic Development meetings over the methods by which Guyana’s rice was being shunned by parts of the Eastern Caribbean and elsewhere to the extent that in some cases the Common External Tariff (CET) was not being applied to extra regional imports and without any notification to the Caricom Secretariat.
With the local industry likely to face a serious crunch by November, Minister Greenidge and his team must move quickly in the direction of the Caricom market. The needs and schedules of all members of Caricom which import rice must be determined with great accuracy and immediate contact made to establish the prospects for regular rice sales. If the single market -still seriously adrift of the single economy – is to mean anything, more than 40 years after Caricom’s founding, it must at least equate to the purchasing of needed goods being produced by a fellow member state. Guyana will have to have full intelligence on these markets and ensure that the CET is being applied and applications for tariff waivers are immediately known and only approved where there is a valid need. Joint marketing with Suriname can help both countries be consistent and reliable suppliers to the region. The will and intent of Caricom will be tested here.
Outside of Caricom, Guyana will have to continue nurturing new markets such as the one in Panama and investigate others nearby. Here again economic diplomacy will take centre stage. The diplomats of the ministry together with the relevant officials of the Ministries of Agriculture and Business will have to become versed in which types of fragrant or non fragrant rice would be better sold on international markets and where. Local farmers may well have to begin more precise matching of their cultivations to market needs. The continent of Africa is said to be the fastest growing rice market globally. At one point the Ghanaian market was being scouted and it would be well worth investigating the Nigerian market, a large consumer of rice. Once it is clear where the opportunities exist a mission should be dispatched to negotiate and the well-established linkages via the African, Caribbean and Pacific group can be tapped.
China is now said to be the number one importer of rice and given the growing connections between the two economies there must be possibilities for the trade in rice. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs here must open up discussions with the Chinese embassy on the possibilities.
Much more attention will also have to be placed on value-added products which can tap niche markets. Value-adding to rice was one of the great deficiencies of PPP/C governments over 23 years. A belated effort last year at rice cereal and rice flour is yet to bloom. Quality value-added products will need to be appended to the portfolio of the rice industry. The challenges ahead to find rice markets will be numerous for the new government.
