Govt pushing for regions to specialise in specific food commodities, support value-added industry

As Guyana seeks new and innovative ways to increase food production, President Dr Irfaan Ali has indicated that Government envisions each administration region specialising in a specific food commodity to make it more efficient in the value-adding industry.
And to support this, his administration has devised an investment plan which will see resources being injected in the construction of regional and sub-regional hubs as well as agri-business incubators.

According to President Dr Irfaan Ali, these facilities will aid in boosting Guyana’s competitiveness by grouping large-scale farmers and equipping them with technology, knowledge and support to meet the growing demand for processed and packaged foods.
To execute this plan, President Ali noted that the Agriculture Ministry will engage farmers regionally to facilitate soil testing exercises to determine which commodities should be grown in the various regions.
For example, Region One (Barima-Waini) will be the primary producers of spices such as ginger, as well as honey, coconut and coffee.

This, the Head of State believes will increase Guyana’s yield, improve food quality, increase shelf life and give ease to the transportation and logistics services countrywide.
“We are going to put processing facilities to now take off the increase in the production that will come up to give the product longer life processing but higher value, and importantly give us ease in the transportation logistics of moving products. So, every region is going to specialise in different products depending on what the competitive advantage of those region… that is an important plan and strategy that will evolve,” the President posited.
President Ali made these remarks on Tuesday at the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) Annual Awards.

Further, he disclosed that Government will be partnering with the GMC to improve processing and packaging of products.
The Head of State explained that GMC will play in crucial in branding products for the regional and international markets by ensuring Guyana’s produce aligns with international standards.
“If we can build facilities that are internationally certified it moves away from the bottom house operation into a facility that meets the certification requirement for the markets, then it helps us to do things to scale with reduces cost and once cost is reduced then profitability increase,” he added.
“As the government embarks on this investment plan, it requires the participants in the industry to relook and rethink at your own strategy, moving away from the individual to the collective… and use the collective power to optimally utilise the investment and infrastructure that we are making in creating these opportunities,” the President encouraged.

Since 2020, the number of agro-processors has increased drastically from 116 to 283 and due to the construction of some 13 agro-processing facilities 90 Guyana shop corners were created.

Moreover, in the last four years, the Guyana Marketing Corporation invested over $468 million in agro-processing facilities, solar dryers, and other equipment to further boost the industry.
Currently, the GMC houses 3,599 products of varying sizes and brands such as sauces, jams, and spices, among others items. (G1)