Dear Editor,
The plan to have farmers focus on a specific product instead of small amounts of a variety of products is a good export strategy. I suggest modifying one aspect of the strategy being proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Instead of producing and then seeking a market for the products, the Ministry would be more successful in helping farmers if they were to first find and guarantee a market for products to be produced.
A great opportunity exists in producing high-demand, profitable products such as organic bananas and coconuts. The organic produce industry is growing at a very fast rate due to the health benefits of the organic farming process, and the profitability of the organic food sector easily surpasses that of the nonorganic foods.
Given the extensive amount of virgin land available to Guyanese farmers, Guyana can quickly ramp up production in this sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture can also provide the much-needed service of securing long-term contracts with top buyers of high-volume, profitable organic products such as bananas and coconuts; thus giving Guyana and Guyanese farmers a winning strategy and a path to sustainable growth in the agriculture sector.
Best regards,
Jamil Changlee
