GMSA’s agro-processing fair ‘Uncapped’ kicks off this Friday

The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) is set to kick off its inaugural Agro-processors Exhibition, Market and Food Festival dubbed ‘Guyanese Flavour Uncapped’ this Friday at the Sophia Exhibition Site.
The two-day event was launched back in July and will serve as an avenue for local agro-processors to showcase their products, as well as to seek additional regional and international markets.
The exhibition aspect will also provide the opportunity to highlight new methods, technologies and innovations that are available for local agro-processors to take advantage of.
The agro-processing fair is a collaborative effort being led by the GMSA and involves the Ministry of Business, IPED, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and Sterling Products Limited, among other contributors.
At the launch, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin had said that the event will not just be a business venture or just an agro-one but also, a food security initiative as it will feature foods from Guyanese farms. This, he noted, is in a bid to ensure that Guyanese produce more of what they consume and consume more of what they produce.
“This is how we intend to build our capacity to feed ourselves and to feed others, to make agriculture and agro-processing an important part of our national economy and our national security in a way that is sustainable… Our economy simply cannot sustain an appetite for foreign food. We’re pressuring ourselves unnecessarily by importing foods that we can very well be producing. It is going to affect the quality of our lives and those of our children if we don’t start making smart choices about the foods that we consume,” the Minister said.
It has been reported that the Caribbean region – which is a net-importer of food – spends in excess of US$4 billion every year, an increase of 50 per cent since the year 2000.
According to GMSA’s President, Shyam Nokta, the region is projected to double its spending on food by the year 2020. This, he added, provides an opportunity for countries like Guyana, a producer of food and agro-products and agro-businesses to step up to the plate.
He went on to say that while many agro-processors have access to regional markets, most of their products are unknown in the domestic market place. It is against this backdrop, that the GMSA came up with this initiative, he had explained.