THE Mangrove Reserve Producers Cooperative (MRPC), at Victoria, East Coast Demerara, took a major step recently, with the development of a comprehensive 42-page business plan.

It spells out projected strategies for the group and is an offshoot of the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project (GMRP), being funded by the European Union and the Guyana Government, to protect and extend the local mangrove forests that are pillars in the country’s sea defence.
Chairman of the GMRP, Mrs. Annette Arjoon-Martins said the concept of the producers’ cooperative, which was established in October 2011, was to allow coastal villagers to earn a living from the protection and management of mangrove forests through the sale of agri-products from those forested communities.
She said products were branded with the Mangrove Reserve label and sold at the Mangrove Reserve Centre at Cove and John, also on East Coast Demerara, conditional upon the producers being involved in mangrove protection and conservation.
The 52 members of the group spread the mangrove awareness message in their communities, at various fora (village events, schools, churches etc), and by taking visitors on tours to the Golden Grove to Belfield Mangrove Reserve. They also operate informally as monitors who help to prevent possible mangrove destruction.
Arjoon-Martins said the co-op initiative was spurred by the success of a farmers’ market, staged in October 2011 at the Mangrove Visitor Centre.
She said the event was sponsored by Digicel and the reaction to the produce and sales was strong. However, it was recognised that, to go forward, there was need for it to be organised and a business plan was necessary.
Consequently, Digicel was approached and the company immediately came on board.
Grassroots initiatives
Digicel Events and Sponsorship Manager, Mr. Gavin Hope said: “When I saw the impact of this venture at the Farmers’ Market, I felt it was something Digicel should join with in keeping with our support for grassroots initiatives and in this one particularly, with the community protecting the environment, the value was clear.”
Hope, together with officials from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), stressed the necessity for the group members to become actively involved with the business plan which covers operating structure, product development, quality control, branding and pricing.
He also made the point that the creation of this professional business plan, produced by The Consultancy Group (TCG), would act as a spur to getting other agencies interested in the producers’ co-operative venture.
In the summary to the business plan, Mr. Timothy McIntosh, of TCG, noted that the mission is to develop a business model for the co-op which supports sustainable community use of mangrove forests and mangrove forest conservation. It highlights the significance of mangrove forests in Guyana’s sea defence and climate change policies and the importance of mangrove forests for coastal community livelihoods.
He pointed out that the principal objective is to develop a business model that facilitates sustainable use of the mangrove forests, and placed strong emphasis on involving the seven community-based units that make up the Mangrove Reserve Producers Cooperative, recognising the limited life of the EU-funded Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project (GMRP) and the importance of broad ownership, at the community level, for acceptance and subsequent implementation of the business model.”