With Guyana, as a member country of CARICOM, having committed itself to the goal of reducing regional food imports by 25% by 2025, there exists, at this time, a disproportionate government emphasis on the oil and gas and agro-processing sectors, the preoccupation with the former seemingly having the effect of leaving the latter behind, operators in the sector who participated in the Stabroek Business’ recent ‘mini survey’ have told this newspaper.
“Don’t get me wrong. Oil and gas is the big [economic] deal in Guyana today. But we have to eat and if we are talking about food security we have to pay far more attention to areas like agro-processing.”
Significantly, without being specifically questioned on the issue, more than 35% of the respondents to the Stabroek Business questionnaire raised the issue of the unusual proliferation on the local market of imported agro-produce including tomatoes, citrus and mangoes, and what appears to be a higher than usual level of apples and grapes which have long appeared to be favoured by many consumers over home-cultivated fruits.
In some instances, respondents pointed to the fact that there appears to be no indication of public concern on the part of the authorities, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture, over this issue.
While local agro processors who participated in this newspaper’s mini survey believe that other countries in the region, including Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are now ‘getting wise’ to the importance of the agro processing sector in the face of both regional and international concerns over what is seen as a worsening food crisis, the same does not appear to be the case in Guyana.
Some local agro-processors who had, several weeks ago, indicated their interest in participation in this year’s Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo are still brooding over the fact that a formal request to government to provide a measure of financial support to agro-processors and craftsmen and women wishing to take a tilt at the US market were turned down. They are concerned that there is no state-driven system that allows for locally-manufactured agro-produce to secure marketing opportunities that derive from promotional niches created by Guyana’s hosting of international conferences.
Respondents to the Stabroek Business’ mini survey agreed that there is no “predictable structured system” on which Guyanese agro-processors and craftsmen and women can rely to ensure that visitors for international conferences get thoughtful exposure to local products as a result of a deliberate focus on infusing product promotion opportunities into the substantive planning of these international conferences. “There is no reason why the marketing of our agro processed commodities cannot somehow be tagged on to international conferences and other major events being held here,” a prominent local-agro processor told the Stabroek Business when asked to provide a comment for the survey.
Earlier this year government had used the opportunity of a high-profile international oil and gas conference held here to stage a display and sale of craft and agro-processed commodities at the Umana Yana. This event had been labelled by President Irfaan Ali as representing a “duty-free” zone. “We have all these foreign dignitaries and guests, many of them have private jets, many of them will just have enough time to get on a flight here and then go back… these are sophisticated investors, every hour of their time is tremendously valued so I asked, how do we keep Guyana close to the conference, and this is what we came up with,” President Ali was quoted as saying, in announcing government’s decision to stage the Umana Yana product display. Whether or not what the president had to say will create an enhanced level of product displays as part of major international conferences, and whether these will be structured to ensure that participating local businesses benefit meaningfully from these ‘outings’ remains unclear.
Recent indications that Jamaica, which has made significant strides in the global marketing of its agro-produce may be able to provide help for Guyana in this regard arose recently during a visit here by an official delegation from the sister CARICOM country. The portents, it would appear, are encouraging, never mind the fact that Guyana’s experiences in matters of this kind have taught us to take nothing for granted.
The gradual growth of Guyana’s agro-processing sector over at least the past decade, deriving from a combination of the culinary inventiveness of Guyanese coupled with a continued surge of interest in both substantive jobs and ‘second income’ opportunities has been vocally ‘encouraged’ by successive political administrations, though that encouragement has not been backed by anywhere near sufficient practical support. Critics of government’s posture towards agro-processing note that despite possessing by far the largest agricultural sector in the Caribbean Community, governments here have done little if anything to support a thriving agro-processing sector where much of the productive effort still derives from the efforts that come out of domestic kitchens.
