IN a recent visit to the Costa Rica Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) by a team comprising Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie

Ramsammy; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr. Oudho Homenauth; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority, Dr Dindyal Permaul; and the IICA Representative of Guyana, Mr. Wilmot Garnett, IICA Director General, Mr. Víctor M. Villalobos pledged IICA’s support for development of Guyana’s trade in agricultural products.
During the visit, Dr Ramsammy took the opportunity to point out that Guyana has the land, water, and technical expertise needed to promote agricultural development, but Dr Ramsammy wanted an agricultural sector that would drive economic development and generate well-being.
He told ICCA that the Agriculture Ministry’s priorities are – development of an agrofuels unit, establishment of programmes to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change, and compliance with international trade standards. Dr. Villalobus, in turn, noted that few countries were blessed with such wealth of resources as Guyana, and he opined that Guyana should take advantage of its resources to feed the world and generate value added through agribusinesses.
Dr Villalobos noted that Guyana is especially important for IICA, as it is the country where the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has its Headquarters. He said the Institute provides, and will continue to provide, technical and financial support to CARICOM and some of its initiatives — such as the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture, the Rural Milieu, and the Jagdeo Initiative.
The Guyana delegation expressed interest in implementation of an IICA proposal for agricultural health and food safety that includes Guyana, Haiti, and Canada, and which is designed to facilitate trade among the three nations.
Milk production was another issue in which the Ministry of Agriculture expressed interest.
Accordingly, during their stay in Costa Rica, members of the delegation visited the Dos Pinos Cooperative, founded in 1947, which now has 15,000 members and exports dairy products to 13 countries.
At the cooperative’s facilities, the delegation observed how the cooperative operates, and the production and distribution processes for different products, including ice cream and different types of milk and juice.
Dr. Ramsammy also raised the issue of IICA cooperation in biotechnology, agro-processing, and creation of a market information system that would afford farmers access to information about the demand for, and possible prices of, their products, IICA said.
Dr. Ramsammy and his team also visited the EARTH University on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, to learn about its admission procedures and the possibility of students from this country being granted scholarships to study agronomy in Costa Rica.
Dr. Ramsammy, IICA said, also expressed interest in the IICA and higher education institutes of Mexico, the National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) scholarships for graduate studies in Mexico, and the distance education that the Institute offers.