One of the unique aspects of our Guyanese heritage is our rice industry – which today has faaar surpassed sugar – once the reason for our country’s existence!! While it ain’t widely known, rice was grown by enslaved Africans – but was a different type than the one we have now – and grown by a different method. That variety was from Africa and was grown in dry soil – as opposed to what the indentured Indians brought, which was cultivated in wet conditions.
Starting from renting small plots of swampy lands from the sugar plantations – where the indentureds were basically subsidising the atrocious wages they were being paid to work from daybreak to sunset – the cultivation of rice grew by leaps and bounds during WWI. Shipments of rice from Burma to feed us here and in the Caribbean were stopped by German U-boats – and local farmers filled the breach. They were the first local entrepreneurs who built an industry – by taking all the risks – and became the largest employer in the land. Not to mention bringing in huge amounts of foreign currency from exports!! Do you realise, Dear Reader, we exported over 700,000 tonnes of rice last year – and we intend to take that up and beyond 1 million tonnes??
So, we’re joining the big leagues in grain production to deal with global food security – with millet and even wheat being tested!! But if we wanna play with the big boys, we gotta up our standards to match theirs. And what’s been proven for successful industries is entrepreneurial risks must be reduced through insurance!! Presently, rice farmers are taking all the risks – on prices, weather, pests, low prices, etc. They should be given national awards annually for having the guts to return to their fields year after year.
Over in the US – which is the largest agricultural global exporter – crop insurance was introduced by their Government during the 1930s Great Depression and has been the biggest reason for their success. The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) oversees Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) participation and offers agricultural producers financial protection against losses due to adverse events, including drought, excess moisture, damaging freezes, hail, wind, disease, and price fluctuations.
FCIP covers 134 agricultural commodities – barley, corn, cotton, dry beans, citrus fruits, oats, peanuts, potatoes, rice, soybeans, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and wheat. Premiums for the insurance are subsidised by the govt to the tune of an average of 67% of the costs. Our Government – like the US in the 130s – is introducing crop insurance free for 6000 rice farmers to get them used to the concept. It can be broadened later.
This is very powerful strategic thinking!!
…our financial system
It’s not only in rice we’re entering the global big leagues – we’ve now done that also as an oil producer where we’re impacting the bottom line of some of the largest oil majors like Exxon, Chevron and CNOOC! The oil revenues gotta be intermediated through our local banking system – which has to maintain correspondent relationships with foreign banks – especially in the US and EU – to finance our fastest-growing economy!!
It’s against this background that the recent decision by Demerara Bank to sever any relationships with any candidate on the WIN ticket – backed by US OFAC-sanctioned businessman Mohamed – must be considered. We’ve seen how wide a net OFAC casts when US sanctions are imposed on countries and individuals, such as the ongoing sanctions against our Mad Maduro Venezuelan regime.
The OFAC mandate specifically declares: “The prohibition includes …providing…services…for the benefit of sanctioned persons”!! Ain’t this what these Demerara Bank account holders are doing for the sanctioned Mohammed’s bid for political office??
Why should any of our banks take this risk??
…our entrepreneurial heritage
Your Eyewitness mourns the passing of Yacoob Mazaharally – a pioneering entrepreneur in the timber industry, as well as the airline business out of Ogle. He epitomised the essence of entrepreneurship – seeing an opportunity and being willing to take the risks!!
