Readers will encounter in this issue of the Stabroek Business (front page) an account of an informal but revealing exchange between us and a small group of local agro-processors whose experiments with transforming fruit and vegetables into condiments and food flavourings began, mostly, in less than well-appointed kitchens, equipped with no more than ‘the bare necessities’. They have at their disposal an abundance of fruit and vegetables and a host of ideas that had been ‘fleshed out’ in ‘crude’ experiments. Those ‘experiments,’ at the end of those processes, would have been mostly set aside and later built upon by fresh ones that represented (or hopefully so), improvements on their predecessors. Some of the earliest experiments would have been retained in the family home or, perhaps, extended to the neighbourhood for sampling and the passing of a verdict.
It was these exercises that determined whether or not the earliest efforts had warranted what one might call a ‘second tilt’ or whether they should simply be set aside. There were instances in which the verdict was arrived at based on the ‘approval’ of children who were the primary consumers of the various experimental jams and jellies. These pursuits flourished mostly in the communities where the raw material from which the various creations were realized… the fruit and vegetables that grew ‘wild’ and in abundance and which could be harvested at no cost. Some of the earliest experiments that failed to win the approval of the tasters were hastily set aside and fresh ideas put in their places. It was the same tasting and the passing of verdict that caused some of the earliest ‘experiments’ to be deemed sufficiently acceptable to be ‘graduated’ into modest commercial ventures, jams, jellies and food seasonings, offered in the crudest of packaging and sold on corners (to children and adults alike) their survival on the ‘market’ depending on the verdicts of those who exchanged their cents and pennies for access to these experiments.
The journey of agro-processing from kitchen experiment to earnest, confident production thrived in an environment where, for working class families (mostly the women in those families), the pursuit metamorphosed into modest business ventures that saw competition among the ‘manufacturers’ spawning new ‘experiments’ that were focused mostly on incremental product refinement and packaging. Additives of one sort or another were ‘thrown in’ to take account of taste preferences and discarded jam jars, insofar as these were available, came, eventually, to be pressed into service in preference, supplanting ‘torn off’ pieces of paper wrapping. It was consumer demand that influenced the ‘graduation’ of agro-processing away from the level of kitchen experiments and into an environment where product enhancement was driven by advances in technology. Some of the earliest kitchen tools (like mincing mills) were designed to reduce the labour-intensive nature of the production process and incremental advances in product presentation made some of the creations increasingly acceptable to the ‘standards’ demanded by the consumer outlets.
Growth in consumer demand for condiments (jams, jellies, syrups, food seasonings et al) threw open the agro-processing sector as an important entrepreneurial opportunity, particularly in poor communities. Over time, the pursuit attracted investments that pushed it beyond the boundary of the domestic kitchen and into ‘factories’ boasting tools that focused mostly on saving time and reducing the extent of manual labour. These earliest ‘tools’ were much later supplemented with more sophisticated equipment manufactured in developed countries. Over time, too, the facility of free (or cheap) fruit came to an end as investments were made in orchards designed to respond to increasing market demand. The agro-processing sector metamorphosed further, with increased demand for products that were pleasing, opening the way for investments in the sector that varied in size and scale; while some of the earliest modest entrepreneurial efforts here in Guyana have survived and even grown, these have been, to a considerable extent, eclipsed by the more exalted investments in ‘plant and machinery.’
Beyond that, the global growth of agro-processing and the corresponding demand for the bewildering array of agro-processed products now available on the international market have given rise to the emergence of a product presentation and packing regime as well as a range of health and safety regulations that have caused the lesser investments in the pursuit to become marginalized by the internationally recognized brands that had attracted much more substantial investment. Inevitably, here in Guyana, local brands have had to compete (and it has by no means been a fair competition) with the more exalted, imported ‘brand names’ that still meet the taste preferences of consumers. Meanwhile, opportunities for tilts at the international market have been limited, mostly by brand preferences, phyto-sanitary restrictions and financial constraints that placed limits on international market exposure. While some of our local efforts have met with a modest measure of international success, mostly through the patronage of expatriated Guyanese who still retain a taste for ‘the good old days,’ the market success of local agro-processed goods internationally, remains limited.
Perhaps surprisingly, the lack of any significant noteworthy success on the international market would appear to have left local producers undaunted. Agro-processed goods still hold considerable appeal among small and medium-sized investors and local agro-processors still clamor for opportunities to participate in regional and international agro-processing events. At the local level, agro-processing as an investor pursuit continues to grow… at least that is how it appears. That said, private sector investment in agro-processing in Guyana continues to be mostly modest, notwithstanding recent state investment in a clutch of processing facilities in various regions of the country. The extent to which these have been commissioned and are up and running is unclear. There is no good reason why the advent of an oil and gas sector should allow for the absence of real growth in the agro-processing sector, though responses that challenge the assertion that we are making no more than ‘baby steps’ are often frowned upon at the level of officialdom.
The truth, however, comes home to roost, when account is taken of the strides made by other countries – Jamaica being the best example here in the Caribbean – to expand their agro-processing footprint. Contextually, one might think that Guyana, on account of its agricultural base ought to, at least match the rest of the region in the pursuit of agro processing, and, to have been able by now to make an even more profound footprint on what has become a particularly lucrative market but continues, for no good reason, to trail badly. All of course cannot be said to be ‘lost,’ in a country where significant investment in the agro-processing sector, not least the accelerated bringing into service of the recently established Agro Processing Centres in various regions across the country. That said, when account is taken of the opportunities to grow the sector, that are still to yield the commensurate rewards, a persuasive argument can hardly be made for the sector, up to this time, of having made a sufficiently adequate mark on the country’s economy.