Food Security and Agribusiness
We have always promoted agriculture as a vehicle for national prosperity, to end poverty and hunger, and provide opportunities for better lives for ALL Guyanese.

Agriculture is one of the engines of Guyana’s economic growth and a large scale employer. The PPP/C commits the highest priority to agricultural growth, recognizing its contribution to the economy, farmers’ income and rural development.

We will continue to implement appropriate policies to increase agriculture’s share of our GDP, increase employment in the sector, and in particular, increase the contribution of agriculture to economic growth, rural transformation and development in all ten (10) administrative regions.

The Agriculture Sector will continue to be built around the five areas known as the F5 Strategy: Food Security (no more hunger); Fiber and Nutritious Food (no more malnutrition); Fuel production (clean energy and energy security); Fashion and Health Products (expanding agro-processing into areas outside of food); and Furniture and Crafts (further expansion of agriculture outside of food).

Our Commitments to Agribusiness will include:
 Fully implementing the National Agriculture Strategy.
 Improving farm-to-market transportation, including boats to assist farmers to transport produce to markets.
 Establishing packaging/canning factories in various geographical locations to preserve and add value to agricultural produce.
 Transforming the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to purchase produce from farmers and to re-sell to large users, like hospitals, manufacturers and for exports.
 Putting in place social safety nets to help farmers above 60 years, small and marginal farmers and farm labourers.
 Strengthening and expanding rural credit facilities.
 Introducing consumer-friendly farmers’ markets to reduce wastage and increase income and risk coverage.
 Encouraging large scale soya and corn production and new crops such as quinoa, rubber and palm oil
 Promoting an agri-energy industry, producing bio-ethanol through sugar cane, palm oil, cassava and corn.
 Beginning the process of opening up at least 300,000 acres of new land, including establishment of the Mahaica-Mahaicony Conservancy
 Increasing irrigation pumping capacity
 Increasing drainage pumping capacity
 Increasing outfall de-silting pontoon excavator capacity and start the construction of groynes.
 Commissioning a State-of-the-Art National Soil Laboratory
 Transforming Ebini, Kairuni and Hosororo Nurseries to Centers of Excellence, with dormitory facilities for the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) students to complete attachments and for researchers from Guyana and abroad to conduct studies
 Expanding the GSA Agro-processing facility to produce more products for the international markets
 Completing soil mapping for at least six (6) regions by 2020.