…a dream come true for livestock farmers
THE Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) was inaugurated last week with a ceremony at its head office at Mon  Repos, East Coast Demerara.
And Agriculture Minister Robert contends that this is a critical step in the transformation of the agricultural sector.
He stressed that the investment is in recognition of the livestock sector’s importance to the development of the country. Persaud said, “This advancement will be a fulfillment of a long-standing desire of livestock farmers.”
The inaugural ceremony was attended by hundreds of sector stakeholders, including Member of Parliament and General- Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, and Inter-American Institute for  Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Representative, Mr. Ignatius Jean.
The minster said the launching of the GLDA signals the diversification of the agriculture and national economy, as such a  single semi-autonomous entity is needed to support the expanding livestock sector.
He explained that the approach to developing the sector, in the past, has been fragmented and haphazard.
However, Persaud noted that the sector is the fastest growing sub-sector and has the potential to be a vibrant, dynamic and  competitive force in Guyana’s agricultural base economy.
“We will work,” he said. “Over the next three and a half years we will be investing $1.4B in livestock.”
The minister explained that the challenges will be many, but maintained that the livestock sector has the ability to become  a strong economic base.

New Direction
Persaud noted that GLDA will cater for large scale export in the future, taking into consideration trends and demands for  livestock.
He pointed to the climatic challenges and their impacts, such as the availability of water, and maintained that the GLDA  will be a vehicle for strategic changes.
These changes, according to him, will be rolled out over the next few years, and includes a $200M investment in genetic  improvement, a $200M state-of-the-art vet lab, and an additional $200M for a state-of-the-art abattoir at Coldingen, East  Coast Demerara, as well as $320M to be expended on grants to livestock farmers.
Persaud said GLDA must work to fully realise the true potential of the livestock sector, with the training of farmers to  operate under the required regulations and other legislation to manage the livestock sector.
Expressing similar sentiments was the recently appointed GLDA Chairman of the Board, Mr. Patrick De Groot.
He explained that the GLDA combines the expertise of the Animal Services Clinic, the Livestock and Pasture Department and  the National Dairy Development Programme – all of the Ministry of Agriculture.
De Groot added that the pooling of resources will see the livestock sector performing better in terms of increased  productivity and enhanced competitiveness.
According to him, a primary area of focus this year will be research and development, an effort to propel the sector’s  development on a firm base.
De Groot maintained that the GLDA is expecting increased production on the strength of its efforts and support from  increased extension services support.
The livestock farmers present for the launch concurred that the major challenges include:
* Quality breeding animals;
* Lack of the more innovative technology to bolster the value-added component of production;
* Training of farmers to enhance marketing and support to engender better planning in the sector, in particular the  organised groups;
* The need to resuscitate associations which would play a significant role in the sector to move forward; and
* Unstable markets due to different variables;
The need to push the process to effect the passage of a Rustling Act was also raised, since cattle farmers suffer  significant losses because of rustling.
The GLDA is a semi-autonomous agency with a mandate of promoting greater efficiency in the livestock product industry. The  need for such a body follows the acquisition of a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank – Agricultural Export and  Diversification Programme – for the purpose of increasing Guyana’s exports and reducing its volatility.
Subsequent to the identification of some of the deficiencies in the sector, the GLDA Act was piloted in the National  Assembly, which, when passed, resulted in the GLDA being established.
The deficiencies included lack of suitable volume of cattle, ineffective sanitary surveillance systems, poor institutional  support and outdated legal framework, weak technological awareness and business practices in meeting Good Manufacturing  Practices (GMP) and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the livestock chain, and inadequate abattoir facilities.
With the Act’s passage, farmers now benefit from improved services through the streamlining of crop extension services,  plant health and research, and the consolidation of livestock development programmes.