Bahamas looking to increase trade ties with Guyana – agri advisor

…says opportunities exist for increased trade in food products

By Jarryl Bryan

During the recently-concluded Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’ 38th Regional Conference, representatives from all over the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region converged in Guyana, including a senior official from The Bahamas who revealed that much scope existed for increased trade ties between the two countries.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Keith Phillipe, a technical advisor within the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Resources Ministry and his country’s FAO correspondent, explained that The Bahamas was eager to work with not only Guyana but all Caribbean States, when it comes to reaching strategic food security goals.

“The Bahamas is very thrilled to work with Guyana and all other Caricom and LAC States. It is partnering and providing contributions to the 2022 to 2031 FAO strategic framework. And so, Guyana had a lot of inputs and so does The Bahamas. And we agree on so much… almost everything on the strategic framework.
“And where our alignments somewhat diverge is the fact that we are purely a coastal state, so we have more marine jurisdiction in our [Exclusive Economic Zone] EEZ. So, we focus more on the blue economy, as a part of our campaign pitched to source additional food to reduce hunger and poverty,” Phillipe said.
The advisor admitted that The Bahamas was a heavy importer of agricultural products and noted that there was much scope for his country and Guyana to grow their respective trade ties, in particular since Bahamas’ EEZ is dominated by fishing, and it is a major exporter of seafood.
“Yes, The Bahamas is always looking to increase on the import of agricultural products. When it comes to exports, The Bahamas has been exporting quite a bit of marine products. For example, we have a lot of our EEZ in a marine environment. But we are open to whatever proposal is placed with respect to agricultural products that can be brought into The Bahamas,” he said.
“In fact, Guyana was one of the countries that actually exhibited at the Caribbean Group of Agriculture, that The Bahamas hosted in October of last year. And I remember getting a bottle of oil extract… but we’re looking to import things. We talked about oil, whatever it is Guyana has to offer. Because let’s be real. When doors close for countries to export goods, we the citizens suffer. As it is right now, The Bahamas imports a little over 90 per cent of all its food from the United States.”

President Dr Irfaan Ali has previously expressed Guyana’s desire to forge a stronger partnership with the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, telling then Non-Resident Bahamian High Commissioner Leslia Miller-Brice back in 2022 that a stronger relationship between the two States could enhance sectors such as agriculture, tourism, education, sport, youth development, financial services, and trade and investment.
During the 46th Regular Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) held in Georgetown, Guyana last month, Bahamian Minister of Labour and Public Service, Pia Glover-Rolle had provided an update on Bahamas’ progress in the areas of poultry farming and other agricultural initiatives, towards the realisation of the “25 by 2025” vision outlined and championed by President Ali.
Additional mention was made by Glover-Rolle of the country’s strategy to partner with the FAO and promote increased use of digital solutions in agriculture, as well as The Bahamas’ efforts to increase support for community and backyard farming.
According to a statement from the Bahamian Government, President Ali had responded positively to these contributions and had committed Guyana to collaborating with The Bahamas to address the nation’s farming age and gender gaps, “a challenge Guyana has already successfully addressed in its agricultural sector”.