On January 5 this year, a ‘News Agency’ report from the Ministry of Agriculture asserted that during the course of 2023, 130 new agro-processed products had been launched and that in the same year, 54 “new Guyana Shop Corners” had been established. By any stretch of the imagination these disclosures would be good news, particularly since that volume of increase in the range of agro processed products and expansion in the numbers of ‘Guyana Shop Corners’ would have meant a significant ‘kick upstairs’ for those micro and small businesses that represent a significant part of the agro processing sector, as a whole.
At the time of the announcement, these disclosures were accepted as they were given though, as far as the Stabroek Business could tell, no persuasive evidence was put ‘out there’ to back up what the Ministry of Agriculture was claiming. The report, we noted, was bald, providing no information regarding where these new agro-processed products could be found. It was pretty much the same thing with the Ministry’s claim regarding where the 54 new Guyana Shop Corners could be found.
What the Stabroek Business also noted was that the assertion in the Ministry’s disclosure that the new products had been “launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, through the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC)” had not been supported by a specific media release disclosure emanating from either the Ministry or the GMC itself, through any release of its own, though it should be noted that for some time, the GMC, which had previously been in the forefront of promoting the production and marketing of local agro produce, would appear to have fallen silent on these issues.
Here, the Stabroek Business wishes to suggest that the simultaneous release by the Ministry of Agriculture of the news and the opening of the 54 new Guyana Shop Corners, could reasonably have been intended to suggest that some or all of the new products could be found on the shelves in the new Guyana Shop Corners, though here again neither this newspaper’s own enquiries, nor feedback from consumers whom we have engaged, suggests that this has been the case. Put differently, the Stabroek Businesses’ own efforts to verify the Ministry of Agriculture’s claim that 130 new agro-processing products had been launched proved unsuccessful, never mind the fact that our search included the shelves of local supermarkets known to ‘carry’ locally manufactured agro processed products.
Incidentally, the point should be made that the list of the new agro processed products included, by brand name, “130 new agro-processing products,” including Taz Instant Cook-up Rice, Basara Gentle Shampoo and Nourishing Conditioner, Aunt Bago Mango Achar, Heather’s Products Cookies, Hosororo Chocolate Bar, and Fresh Packagers Coconut Fudge.
In passing, it would be helpful if this newspaper can coax a comment out of the Ministry of Agriculture on the status of its highly publicized disclosures regarding the extent to which the various Agro Processing factories that were being established in various regions are now up and running and whether the farmers operating in the communities where these Agro Processing facilities exist have been able to secure value-added returns through access to the factories. The Ministry of Agriculture, insofar as the Stabroek Business is aware, has not, up to this time, placed any such information in the public domain.
Part of the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, including the Minister, is to aggressively promote the pursuits and accomplishments of the Ministry, though there may well be a concern here that as has been customary with various Ministries under different political administrations, the Minister/Ministry, in this instance, is inclined to get ahead of himself, making utterances which cannot – when push comes to shove – be substantiated. Here, no one is suggesting that trumpet-blowing is manifestly acceptable as and when such action is manifestly justifiable. However, the Stabroek Business wishes to make clear that it is in no way questioning the afore-named claims that have been made regarding the brands that are now on the market and the various Guyana Shop Corners that have been established. It is simply a matter of issuing a reminder that where such claims have to do with matters of particular public importance the media has a right to seek verification.
