WITH Guyana repositioning itself as the Caribbean’s ‘bread basket’ and moving to become a major food exporter, the establishment of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) is timely and progressive. The livestock sub-sector is crucial to global food security and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been encouraging livestock production which is not only helpful to food security and agriculture growth, but also is a major source of employment and income, particularly for those in the rural communities.
According to the FAO, during the past three decades, a rapid global expansion in production and consumption of animal products has led to a so-called “livestock revolution”, driven by population and income growth coupled with urbanization.
Cheap, often subsidized feed grain, cheap fuel and rapid technological change, particularly in poultry, pork and dairy production, have accelerated the sector’s growth to such an extent that it is expected to provide 50 percent of global agricultural output in value terms in the next 10 years.
Rapid structural change has been associated closely with this growth process in developed and rapidly growing developing countries. Large-scale commercial production, based mostly on feed grain and often globally connected, has emerged to provide growing urban markets with produce.
In this context therefore, the GLDA’s establishment is in sync with what is taking place on the global agriculture arena.
The livestock sub-sector could have been much more advanced in Guyana but, unfortunately, the policies and strategies to develop it under the previous government hardly fructified and it took a nose dive.
As a result, Guyana never realized its full livestock potential.
However, the current initiative should see steady forward movement and a revitalized livestock sub-sector. Noteworthy is the fact that it is being geared towards the export market.
This is vital because the small local market will be saturated quickly and if alternative markets cannot be found, the sub-sector will be hurt.
In this regard, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud noted that GLDA will cater for large-scale export in the future, taking into consideration trends and demands for livestock.
He pointed to climatic challenges and the 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 include 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 for grants to livestock farmers.
It is heartening to note that focus is being placed on every aspect of the sub-sector, because the health reality of today’s world demands great attention to health and hygienic issues, especially if Guyana is aiming for international markets where phyto-sanitary standards have to be of the best.
This is natural because of the many outbreaks of animal diseases in Europe and elsewhere.
It is also good to see that funds have been allocated for grants to livestock farmers.
Another aspect that should be looked at too is the linking and perhaps integrating of the livestock industry with other industries, because many of the by-products of the livestock industry are needed there.
This would result in optimal use of all the products of the industry and greater efficiency and profitability.