Dear Editor,
The pork market in China is valued at US$215 billion per year at the end of 2019. But swine flu has wiped out some 200 million pigs on farms all over Asia. This has significantly affected the supply of pork in China. Pork is the favourite meat for the Chinese people and this shortage has caused a doubling of prices over the last 12 months. To further complicate matters, China is in the middle of a trade war with the United States.
Notwithstanding all of that, China has a growing buying power because of their wealth and they are using it to change the global pork market. Unfortunately, the supply of pork in places like Africa and Latin America has been depleted.
This is where Guyana becomes relevant – we have the Rupununi Savannahs and the Intermediate Savannahs; significantly underutilized lands that can be transformed in part into a global pork-manufacturing centre. With the right private sector input (local and international) in a joint venture that includes the Chinese and Guyanese Government, this country can produce close to US$1 billion in pork for exports within 5 years if we plan properly. They have the money, they have the demand, they have the swine flu; Guyana does not.
From a wealth creative perspective, Guyana can do very well for its people if we become a focused pork exporter. China is looking for a friendly partner outside of the United States and our history illustrates that China and Guyana have been friends for a long time. So why not leverage this friendship?
Guyana has lots of land for the rearing of pigs; why waste it. This project can cause the migration of about 5,000 Chinese farmers and workers, who will work alongside their Guyanese brothers and sisters in the Intermediate Savannah and Rupununi to hatch this idea into action. The project has to be framed with a strong local content element that allows for mandatory transfer of technology, techniques, and talent to the Guyanese farmers within a decade to efficiently produce pork on a large-scale. It can also allow for two internationally certified abattoirs to be built at Lethem and Ituni to drive development in these remote communities. The job creation opportunities for Guyana are enormous especially for the people of Region 9 and Region 10.
A successful pig-farming sector totally geared for the export market will impact many other sectors. This idea will cause an injection of a sizable population into the Intermediate Savannahs and increase the population in the Rupununi. This tactic is vital for Guyana to succeed. It will also accelerate the completion of the transportation link between Linden and Brazil, which can then incubate an international beef cattle industry in Guyana. The economic and human development opportunities are huge.
In summary, this can be a win-win situation. China wins on the supply side, which aids in stable pork prices for them, while Guyana will be the beneficiary of more than US$1 billion in cash and new investments when this project is fully up and running.
Hopefully, we can bring home the bacon after the elections?
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
