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Seizing the opportunities

Oct 04, 2008 Editorial

The Government continues to provide support to the agriculture sector. On Wednesday last, a packaging facility was declared open at Parika.

This is the second packaging facility to be built by the Government. The first one is still in operation at Sophia, and has seen a dramatic increase in the export of fruits and vegetables from Guyana.

There is no doubt that Guyana is now producing more fruits and vegetables than ever before, and is exporting far more of these products. In fact, it was revealed recently that in the case of the Canadian market alone, there has been a 180 per cent increase in exports.

What, however, has not been told is whether there has been a corresponding increase in the number of exporters, or whether this increase in exports represents simply an increase in volume.

Whatever the situation, the Government must be commended for the establishment of yet another packaging facility.

However, as the Minister of Agriculture has warned, farmers need to make more use of these facilities.
Guyana’s agriculture drive has the potential to make a direct impact on the alleviation of poverty. By growing more food, farmers can ensure that they increase their incomes.

And this is especially relevant as more and more farmers begin to diversify away from the tradition crops and into the vegetables and fruits which have ready markets overseas.

Considering the small size of Guyana’s domestic market, there remains the important need for exports of our non-traditional agricultural produce.

The New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) has done a fantastic job in matching producers and exporters with overseas buyers, but there are still critical markets within the Caribbean which need to be tapped.

For Guyana to enter these new markets and for it to secure its existing markets, Guyana has to ensure that it can be relied upon to meet the demand for produce as well as ensure high standards.

This is why the establishment of the new packaging facility is important. It would allow exporters to have yet another central facility for packaging, and can ensure that the requisite quality controls are in place, since all that is required is for one poor shipment to give Guyana’s produce a bad name.

The Diaspora in North America, while a limited market, remains one of the areas that are obviously being targeted by exporters. There is still a great demand in this market for produce from Guyana.

Some time ago, the Government had promised that a Guyana brand would have been created to aid in the marketing of Guyana’s produce overseas.

However, we have not heard much about this important issue, which can ensure increased use of goods produced and manufactured in Guyana.

While the creation of this brand is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, we urge the ministry to seriously consider taking on this project, since it will complement the packaging investments that have been made.

We also urge our farmers to appreciate that simply producing for the domestic market is not good enough. They should aim for the larger global economy, and should see the global food crisis as presenting an opportunity for them to gain access to markets which previously would not have been available.

If these opportunities are seized, then the diversification process within the agriculture sector would have been worth the hiccups.

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