Agriculture sector can drive economy after COVID-19 – Mustapha

After the coronavirus pandemic ends, the agriculture sector will still be there to drive the economy, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said during his address on Wednesday in a webinar held by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
In acknowledging the theme for the discussion focused on opportunities for strengthening the value chain and expanding agriculture in a post COVID-19 environment, Minister Mustapha declared that the “agriculture sector has what it takes to drive the economy post-COVID-19”.

He said that while the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt not only in public health systems but in the economy, it has amplified Guyana’s awareness of the importance of food security. Noting that Guyana is a food-secure country, he said that it met the global hunger targets in 1996 of the World Food Summit, and in 2000 of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to the Minister, Guyana produces 59 per cent of the food it consumed which means that its food-import dependence is 41 per cent. However, he added that it was Government’s intention to reduce this import dependence by creating an enabling environment for an efficient and competitive local manufacturing sector.
He further disclosed that the agriculture sector, both public and private, is struggling to deal with the impact of the pandemic. While he said there was no major problem of availability of food, supply-chain interruptions and loss of income are being experienced.
He told the webinar that Guyana recently participated in a regional assessment on the impacts of COVID-19 on food security and the agriculture sector. The survey was conducted during July and August 2020 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Caricom.
It found a decline in farmers’ income on average of 20-50 per cent; farmers reported difficulty accessing agricultural inputs – seeds and planting materials, and fertiliser and pesticides; prices of seeds/fertiliser are higher than usual and seed varieties/ planting material and fertilisers and pesticides regularly used are not available.
It further found that input suppliers and food traders recorded lower sales owing to business restrictions and client’s restrictions and higher operating costs of agri-businesses; and food traders recorded a decline in customers, with the level of sales consequently decreasing, while experiencing difficulties transporting produce in the last three months.
Looking ahead, agri-businesses expect difficulties in market supplies and sales.
In light of this, Minister Mustapha posited, “We must focus on ways to expand, shift agriculture from primary producer to value-added, to reduce the 41 per cent dependence on imports, which include processed products, dairy products, grains such as corn and soybean, etc. This expansion will aid in the reduction of our domestic food import bill of $45 billion.”
“There is also the opportunity for Guyana to tap into the estimated US$8-10 billion 2020 Caricom market food import bill. The webinar is timely as it paves a path forward for us to co-exist with COVID-19, which will be with us for foreseeable future, and at the same time, cash in on the opportunities to expand agriculture.”
The webinar was also designed to bring together leaders in Government, multilateral organisations and the Private Sector to share perspectives and experiences with a view to identifying actions to addressing key challenges which could set the stage for collaborative efforts.
In ending his remarks, the Agriculture Minister thanked the GMSA for setting up the webinar and said it came at a time when the country was in the process of finalising the Budget and the launch of Agriculture Month.