Guyana expanding productive capacity in agri sector – President Ali
─ Estimated US$43M in earnings expected from black belly sheep production
Guyana, along with the other member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at the recently concluded Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, agreed to a strategic, timebound and strong approach to achieving its goal of reducing the region’s food import bill to 25 percent by 2025.
His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, today provided this update at a press conference hosted at the Baridi Benab, State House.
President Ali said issues of transportation logistics, land access, crop insurance, processing and climate change, among others were discussed, as these factors play integral roles in the region meeting this target.
Further, as the lead on Agriculture in the region, President Ali said Guyana can capitalise on countless opportunities available through intra-regional trade.
“There are some key imports in the region that we will be looking at, and with the use of technology … with the use of science we will be able to up our production even with the constraints of the pressure of land… One acre of land, in the traditional way, was used to produce 30 tonnes of tomatoes. Using science and technology, a quarter of an acre of land can now produce 20 tonnes of tomatoes and that is vertical agriculture, that is using the modern way of growing high-value crops, and also it helps in resilience to climate change and climate related activities,” the President stated.
He pointed out that the demand for several high-value crops, including rice, sugar, wheat, corn and vegetables such as carrot, tomatoes and potatoes, among others, already exist in the region.
Guyana also made a presentation at the meeting, where specific commodities were identified for the different member states, that they can target and the potential values they can create. In setting those targets, the Head of State, noted that the national investment profile was addressed, since it is necessary to meeting the goal.
Expansion of the poultry industry
President Ali said between 2014 to 2020, the region’s poultry production increased by 12 percent, which is equivalent to an increase from 295,000 metric tonnes to just over 297,000 metric tonnes. During that period, consumption of poultry and poultry products also increased by 20 percent.
However, while the region saw this increase in production, extra-regional imports in poultry increased by 31.5 percent.
“…Which means two things, one, the increase in poultry production is not catching up or not catching up with increase in demand. So, while you’re increasing, the extra-regional demand or imports is increasing because more people are consuming poultry and poultry products,” Dr. Ali noted.
Highlighting other key statistics, the President said in 2020 the region imported 98.8 percent of its poultry and poultry by-products from extra-regional markets. He noted that in 2018, the poultry farms in six of the CARICOM countries met the sanitary standards to enter the market. These countries are Guyana, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2020, the total value of poultry imports totalled US$242 million.
Looking at the projections, President Ali said, “In 2020 we were consuming about 550,000 metric tonnes, that is as a region, the projection is that by 2025, we would need 665,000 metric tonnes, that is an increase of about 17 percent from where we are today, to achieve that, we did some backward and forward analysis as to how much feed we will need to grow the industry and to see how we can create the opportunity in the backward linkage in the region, because you will require corn production, you will require soya production.”
The President noted that it is for this reason, the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture has been pursuing corn production. He said in order to achieve the 2025 projection for poultry production would require 1.6 million metric tonnes of feed.
Given that 65 percent of this amount would require one million metric tonnes of corn, the President noted that, “Our intention here in Guyana of pursuing corn and soya is not only sustainable, it is integral in this equation of sustainability of poultry and increase in terms of production for the regional market.”
To meet this regional need, President Ali said it would require 178,000 acres of appropriate land to cultivate the corn. Government has already begun an aggressive programme to cultivate corn which aims to meet the country’s local demand for the crop by 2023. Following this, the President said the goal is to expand production to meet the regional demand.
Additionally, President Ali said Guyana will be working closely with Barbados on the expansion of black belly sheep production, for which extensive discussions are ongoing.
Guyana is looking to expand local production above 7,000 tonnes at the end of a five-year period. This will require a capital investment of a US$175 million and approximately 25,000 acres of land. However, President Ali said the expected earning is estimated at US $43 million annually. The President noted too, that Guyana is examining expanding its productive capacity by tapping into opportunities available in Central America, since agriculture constitutes half of the imports in that region.