Guyana Marketing Corporation: Promotion arm for the nation’s agriculture

Aug 28, 2016 News

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Tasked with providing an enabling environment for the growth and development of crops as well

as promoting the expansion of agri-business investment throughout Guyana and beyond, one can easily surmise that the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) has no easy job on its hands.
In fact, this government agency has been working assiduously over the years to promote the development and export of Guyana’s non-traditional agricultural products to Regional and Extra Regional markets.
In essence, the GMC is the marketing arm of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture. The agency assists farmers, exporters, agro processors and other important stakeholders within the non-traditional agricultural sector with technical advice, assistance for sourcing supplies, harvesting, cleaning, and facilitating logistical arrangements for exports.
GMC also provides the government with recommendations on domestic agricultural policy and measures to increase and expand regional and international exports.
In 2015, GMC worked assiduously to coordinate and facilitate the development and marketing of quality non-traditional agricultural produce and products. As such, officials at GMC posit that it is crucial to bear in mind that it has three core functioning departments: the Guyana Shop, the Packaging Facilities and the Market Information Centre.
It was explained that each of department has a specific role to play in achieving the Corporation’s mandate and responsibilities.
General Manager, Ida Sealey-Adams said that at the Marketing Information Centre (MIC), which is the hub for market and marketing information on non-traditional agricultural produce and products, the staff interacted with 1,179 clients.
Sealy-Adams said that these clients were able to obtain information such as prices, exports, production, exporting procedures, requirements for exporting to the various countries and marketing advice.
The official said that the information was disseminated via GMC’s Market and Enterprise Information System (website), telephone and emails. Additionally, the General Manager stated that information was provided during field visits and to those persons who visited the MIC.
She said that the Market Extension function of GMC was improved significantly as the Corporation sought to improve its coverage across the country. The General Manager noted as well that Market Extension Services were provided to farmers and agro-processors in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and 10. More importantly, she said that the officers at GMC were able to create a number of linkages between farmers and buyers.

During 2015, Sealy-Adams observed that there was need to raise awareness of the services offered by GMC and train farmers in areas of Post- Harvest Management, Cost of Production, Good Agricultural Practices, Marketing, Book Keeping, Exporting and Group Development. To this end, she said that awareness and training sessions were held in various areas across the country.
The General Manager said that the Corporation continued to maintain its export brokerage service and in so doing, 346 export documents were prepared. She said that exporters who were desirous of sending fruits and vegetables, in both fresh and processed form, to the USA were able to complete the US Food and Drug Department Registration at the MIC.
She said that these activities were executed under the Corporation’s directive to facilitate and promote the export of non- traditional commodities.
In relation to Agri-business development, the General Manager said that there was extensive work done with agro-processors to aid in the acquisition of Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GFDD) approvals, improvement in packaging and labels and capacity building.
She said that the Corporation also facilitated the computation of the nutritional facts labels for agro-processors’ products using the Genesis Software.
Additionally, GMC also functioned as a platform for agro-processors to interact with local packaging companies and other key stakeholders. Sealy-Adams was also happy to report that the Corporation hosted an Agro-processors Forum and an Export Facilitation Workshop which targeted agro-processors and exporters, respectively.
She explained that there was specific focus on the promotion of the consumption of locally manufactured commodities. To achieve this objective, she said that GMC hosted and participated in several trade shows and exhibitions.
She noted that there were several promotional events hosted by the Guyana Shop at its Robb Street Location. The General Manager stated that agro-processors were invited to participate and showcase their products with members of the public who had a chance to sample and purchase these commodities.
As the Corporation continued to promote the use of local commodities, the General Manager asserted that there were several other promotional activities such as the Agro-Processors Street Fair. The Corporation also made representation at national and international trade fairs and exhibitions such as Linden Expo, Essequibo Nights, Berbice Expo, Business Expo and Guyana Folk Festival.
Furthermore, the Guyana Shop continued to undertake its initiative “Taking the Guyana Shop National”. This initiative entails establishing a Public-Private Partnership with owners of supermarkets across the country.
By the end of 2015, the General Manager said that there were two “Guyana Shop Corners” one each in Regions Two and Six.
Sealy-Adams stressed that export promotion continues to be a core function of the Guyana Marketing Corporation.
“In so doing, GMC continued to facilitate the packaging of produce for export through the provision of its two Packaging Facilities to exporters. In 2015, there were 592 MT of produce prepared at the Central Packaging Facility (CPF) while 62 MT of produce were prepared at the Parika Agro Packaging Facility (PAPF),” the Official said.
She added that exporters continued to utilize the refrigerated trucks and containers, which are provided by GMC to aid in the promotion of proper post harvest management practices.
Furthermore, the Corporation has been directly involved in facilitating and promoting the export of both fresh and processed commodities. In 2015, Guyana’s exports of non-traditional agricultural commodities totaled 10,999 MT valued at G$1.9 billion or US$ 10 million, which reflected a 27% decrease in exports from 2014. In 2014, exports of non-traditional agricultural commodities totaled 13,922 MT.
In summary, Sealy-Adams said that there were successes and challenges; nevertheless, the Corporation continued to put the necessary systems in place in order to provide more efficient and effective services for its stakeholders.

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