Time for a Regional Economic Action Plan

Apr 23, 2017 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Address by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana at the West Berbice Expo and Trade Fair)

The Mahaica-Berbice Region is the bastion of Guyana’s food security. It has the potential and opportunity to become the country’s ‘rice bowl.’ The Region is rich in resources with:

– an area of 4, 190 km2 that makes it larger than Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and St Vincent, all together;
– an area of 324,000 hectares under cash-crop cultivation, 42,000 hectares under paddy and 1,600 hectares under coconut cultivation and with large herds of cattle, goats and pigs and sheep;
– an agrarian infrastructure and a culture of husbandry that is second to none anywhere in the country; and,
– an ethnically-diverse population of about 50,000 persons that includes Africans, Amerindians and Indians and who practice the three major faiths – Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.
The launching of the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority nearly forty years ago was the most transformative agricultural infrastructural development in the country’s history. The scheme changed the Region from that of a ‘basket case’ into the ‘food basket’ of the country and, potentially, of the Caribbean Community.
The Mahaica-Berbice Region is an agricultural powerhouse. It produced 247,296 tonnes of rice in 2016, accounting for 46 per cent of national production; 33,000 tonnes of sugar or 18 per cent of total national production; 28 million coconuts or 30 per cent of total national production; 74.7 million kilograms of poultry meat; 1.6 million kilograms of beef; 281, 824 kilograms of pork; 60.981 kilograms of mutton; 44.4 million litres of milk; 1,682 metric tonnes of marine fish and shrimp accounting for 16 per cent of national production in 2016;
Economic diversification will expand the Region’s economy; insulate it against the effects of downturns in prices and demand for its commodities; compensate for any decline in earnings as a result of the decline in the traditional sectors and promote higher levels of employment.
The West Berbice Chamber of Industry and Commerce is ideally placed to provide leadership in developing a Regional Economic Action Plan (REAP) to chart the course of economic diversification. It can do so not by inventing a new economy but by exploring new industries such as sports tourism (for example, horse-racing and cricket) and eco-tourism and by exploiting its long-established agricultural expertise, business entrepreneurship and experience in manufacturing.
The Chamber, together with the Central Government, Regional Democratic Council, ten Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders, should consider developing a plan which would add value to the Region’s unquestionable advantages in animal husbandry and cultivation of fruit, coconuts, vegetables, rice and sugar.
The Regional Economic Action Plan can be built on three pillars:
· Export-oriented economy: This Region can become a major exporter of food. The business sector, in order to achieve this goal, must set its sights beyond satisfying the domestic market. It must increase its exports to Suriname and the Caribbean. Investors should be invited to improve meat and milk production. The Region’s agricultural production can become the basis for a strong agro-processing industry.
Labour should combine with land and capital investments from the business community to add value to production. Agro-processing and manufacturing can prevent spoilage and reduce crop losses. A wide range of products can be processed from coconut, fruit, milk and meat. The development of port facilities in the Berbice River will facilitate shipping commodities to other countries.

· Energy-generation: Energy is essential to manufacturing and is a pillar of the green economy. The green path to development encourages the use of renewable energy sources, transportation and economic diversification into low-carbon sectors.
Mahaica-Berbice needs investments in renewable energy and energy-saving technology. Partnerships aimed at ‘greening’ business, can be profitable. Access to energy is central to the plan for diversification. This Region has unexploited sources for solar, wind and bio-mass energy generation.

· Economic diversification: This Expo and Trade Fair’s theme – “Promoting a diversified economy” – is not an empty slogan. It is a call for change. It is intended to ensure an expanded and diversified economy. Opportunities for eco-tourism abound. The Region possesses 660 species of birds and a wonderful variety of plants and animals. The wildlife and the proposed protected areas can be assets which help to diversify into eco-tourism. The government will announced its strategic plan to ensure there is at least one protected area in every Region.
Arts, craft and cottage-industries should not be ignored. The village of Moraikobai is a jewel in the jungle; it produces some of the best craft in the country.
There is no reason why anyone should be poor in this blessed Region. Its entrepreneurship, experience and expertise are the bases for economic diversification.
The West Berbice Chamber of Industry and Commerce must be involved, along with the RDC, NDCs and NGOs, in drafting this Plan.
Economic diversification requires an inclusive and consultative approach. The Region must collaborate with the neighbourhoods and cooperate with the Central Government.

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