Govt to partner with India, Brazil to reignite local coffee industry

President Dr Irfaan Ali unveiled that the Government of Guyana will soon be partnering with both Brazil and India to establish nurseries across the country to reignite the local coffee industry.
He made this announcement during the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana’s (THAG) President’s Award Dinner and Auction on Saturday.
The Head of State boasted that Guyana is home to one of the world’s rarest coffee beans, as he highlighted the range of opportunities the country has in this sector.
“Liberica is one of the rarest coffee beans, previously known as ‘elephant beans’ because of its size and only two per cent of the world market comprises of liberica coffee. So, we are now on a journey to rebuild the coffee industry, we are speaking with scientists out of Brazil [and] India to come in and to establish the nurseries here, so we can go on massive large-scale production,” the President revealed.
Earlier this month, the Government announced plans to attract investors to enhance the production of a number of high-value products in the Pomeroon region including coffee.
Speaking during a visit to the community, Ali stated that the Government wants to promote sustainable and resilient agriculture, and this will see special initiatives being undertaken across the country.
“One of the projects we were working on for Pomeroon is to see how we can get big investors with huge capital to come work with the small farmers, because we want to reignite the coffee industry and expand the coconut and citrus industry…so that the Pomeroon can be an important export location for these three important commodities, including cocoa. We’re now doing some research on cocoa,” Ali stated.
According to Ali, there is tremendous potential in Pomeroon to establish a large-scale local coffee industry for regional and international markets. He noted that of the three main types of coffee beans used around the world, the Pomeroon is home to the liberica bean, which accounts for only two per cent of the world’s coffee production.
“The coffee industry is a high-value industry, and I think we have tremendous potential for the Pomeroon…I don’t know if you know, but the Pomeroon produces liberica… There is a tremendous possibility in us reviving the coffee industry,” he posited.
Meanwhile, in August 2022, it was reported that the Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute of Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) was set to restart coffee cultivation in the Pomeroon Region Two area.
The Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, had explained that the goal was to supply the local coffee market within three years.
“We have IICA working with us to develop coffee production once again in the Pomeroon. We’re hoping that in three years, Pomeroon will give us all the coffee and we will be supplying Guyana’s entire coffee needs,” said the Agriculture Minister.
During the launch of Starbucks in April, the Head of State encouraged the American multinational coffeehouse to incorporate the local coffee bean into their stores.
“I welcome you Starbucks, to the land of liberica and I hope that in your brand, this unique coffee would be sold and this unique coffee will be grown [on a] commercial scale. And with your support, this coffee that only one per cent of the coffee market can enjoy because of its rareness can be shared with the rest of the world and Guyana,” the President remarked.