Agro Processors want a ‘leg up’ from Min...

Agriculture sectors more closely so as to ensure that envisaged growth in Agro Processing benefits from adequate support from the substantive agriculture budget. Meanwhile, three respondents from Regions Four and Six have expressed the view that “more space be found for ‘a wider variety’ of locally produced Agro processed products on supermarket shelves.” Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture disclosed that a number of Agro Processing facilities had been opened in various regions and that this was expected to create linkages between farmers and the facilities in the respective communities. Up to this time, it is unclear whether all of the facilities are ‘up and running’ and whether finished products manufactured in the functioning facilities were benefitting from adequate markets for their products.

The envisaged further growth of Guyana’s agro processing sector has resulted in an enhanced focus on whether more resources should not be injected into the expansion of the GUYEXPO product-promotion event and whether government might not wish to, first, remove the Guyana Marketing Corporation from within the ambit of the Ministry of Agriculture and adequately equip the agency with semi-autonomous operating status. Last year, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha disclosed that his Ministry had launched a number of ‘Shop Corners’ in pre-existing commercial trading outlets to enable the popularization of new locally manufactured agro produce. The Stabroek Business, however, has no information on the extent to which these Shop Corners have impacted on sales of locally manufactured agro produce.