-Defaulting Millers affect socio-economic development
They say money makes the world go round and, while this is debatable, it can be agreed that without money, more often than not, you do not eat. It is that simple for farmers in the rice sector; if you do not have money then you do not eat, your children’s schooling is affected and your rice farming activities are hampered; in some cases one does not even plant the succeeding crop.
Against this premise stakeholders agree that there is a strong need for better business practices to be adopted by millers in Guyana, expressly the Mahaicony Rice Mill, which has for years had non-payment to farmers as a perennial bugbear.
However, this year this particular bugbear’s impacts has increased in magnitude and farmers have been plagued, in an overwhelming way, by these less-than-desirable business practices of delinquent millers, who have failed time and time again to honour their obligations for paddy sold to them.
It should be noted that the ‘bad business’ culture fosters negative impacts, which not only affects farmers’ livelihoods, but essentially affects the socio-economic development of Guyana as a whole.
Socio-economic development is by definition the process of social and economic development in a society and is measured with indicators, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), life expectancy, literacy and levels of employment.
Without money a lot of this is not possible, and it is time enough for a tightening up of the loopholes that allow such practices.
The Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that during this session of the National Assembly the Rice Factory Act will be further amended so that rice farmers can have some added protection.
The amendment is expected to ensure that millers have to pay every farmer 95 percent before they receive a licence. This must be completed within 42 days of supply.
The Rice Factories (Amendment) Bill 2010 was read for the first time in the National Assembly in July.
However, even with an Amendment, there is the fact that Guyana’s rice sector needs the capacity that Mahaicony Rice Mill has and there is the fear among stakeholders, who perceive themselves as sometimes helpless – small voices in a much bigger game, that Mahaicony may use this to their advantage, as it has done as a seeming tradition.
RPA’s Fight
General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, assured that this is not the case; Mahaicony Rice Mill will not be using leverage of any kind, but agreed that better business practices need to be maintained in the sector.
In this context, he stressed that RPA’s mandate surrounds addressing, in a holistic way, farmers’ issues, which includes social and development issues.
The RPA General Secretary made it clear that RPA has come a long way and will continue to protect and promote the interests of Guyana’s rice farmers.
Rice production occurs along the coastal belt of Guyana, utilizing over 170,000 acres of land per annum. The industry has become one of the economic cornerstones of this country. It is second to sugar as the most important agricultural industry, contributing approximately 20 percent of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and about 12 percent of export earnings.
Last year the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) recorded the highest area under rice cultivation (130,080 hectares) in Guyana’s history, with an average of 70 bags of paddy per hectare.
This year the rice target is 4.2 million bags of paddy, 175,000 acres.
Regions Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara), Five (Mahaica/ Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne), which comprise Guyana’s main rice producers, are currently engaged in harvesting.
According to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, projections indicate a production of 356,000 tonnes of paddy, which is an increase compared to last year’s 342,000 tonnes.
He noted, too, that there has been an increase in the acreage cultivated by an estimated 20,000.
Guyana’s rice industry is potentially the most dynamic force in the nation’s economy and has been able to create a rapid and positive change in the fortunes of the nation’s rural farming community and the economy of the country.
That said, stakeholders in the sector agree that the drive to keep the sector going must be a collaborative one.
Also efforts must be made to find common ground for all competing interests: for the farmers – good prices for their paddy and better business practices by the millers; and for the millers – increased moves to promote business activities, primarily export, and their increased involvement, for example in farmers’ meetings.
For policy-makers the general consensus is that, with better business practices and cooperation, the rice sector will continue to be developed, the farmers’ and millers’ livelihoods will be improved, and Guyana will see increased development, because at the bottom level socio-economic development is addressed through the merger of all these factors.