Producing for local and int’l markets

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in November last year drew attention to the National Agricultural Research Institute’s (NARI) report that Guyana loses up to 23 percent of the cassava it produces and 30 percent of our fruits is dumped.This sampling of wastage in our society when hunger and poverty around the world persist ought to serve as declaration of the country’s potential should these resources be properly harnessed. Right here there are persons who go to bed without a meal and live in poverty, when evidently it ought not to be so. What NARI’s figures are telling us is that there exist an underlying deficit that ought to be addressed, particularly in the areas of capacity for storage, distribution and markets.
Last Friday Minster of Business Dominic Gaskin speaking at function to commission a business that has converted to solar energy called on Guyanese to buy and consume local products. In what can best be described as a patriotic pitch the minister not only pointed to the macro economic viability of such an approach but also the micro benefit in creating employment and economic opportunities.
Sensitisation is key here in cultivating taste, pride in producing and consuming local, creating employment and economic opportunities for self and fellow Guyanese, and the value of playing a role in reducing poverty and hunger. Resurgent focus in local foods admittedly has left Guyana somewhat behind in several instances. In addition to technology- that is research and development- the appreciation of local products has diminished. Rectifying both requires investment, monetarily and culturally. A process of education could include empowering producers and vendors in packaging techniques to make their products attractive, additionally to avoiding or minimising damage. Preservation and presentation techniques should also aim to put the country at competitive advantage in the global market.
At the self-sufficiency level production of fresh foods enhances the nation’s developmental thrust; assist the people’s desire for healthy lifestyle, and reaching for the aspiration of breadbasket status in the Caribbean. But such achievements are not without challenges.
In the 21st century where globally the benefits of organic and fresh foods are being pursued for health benefits, it is still not un-unusual to see Guyanese shying away from our local products. Some have come to associate using such with poverty. Such conditioning matters not that imported foods, most of which are processed, are not only unhealthy but diverting needed foreign exchange that can be directed to pressing local issues requiring attention for development.
Recognition by the Government that there needs to be collective effort to arrest the trend of not being favourably disposed to local products and turning it around is well taken. Where acknowledgement is given that Government has to create the enabling environment for production and consumption to thrive, there are some areas that readily come to mine. The Government can look at providing institutional strengthening to NARI through increase financial investment that will facilitate intensified research and attract the brightest of minds through employment or exchange programmes. There is also utility in examining local market surveys to understand perception, production and consumption patterns, requirement to get the goods to the marketplace, storage facilitates and availability, and other relevant factors. In penetrating the international market Government could utilise overseas missions where commercial units can be set up to monitor economic activities, including preferential taste in the host countries.
As the country moves to the stage where the protection of the environment has become a necessity the minster’s call for opportunities of alternative energy to be tapped into for the production of goods and services is timely. Where it was once seen as poverty to sun dry sea foods, such as the famed salted fish and dried shrimp, today such method of producing foods are lauded. Shade houses are also another viable option. Additionally to protecting the plants from being damaged by the climate yields are enhanced. It is said crops produced under this condition the yield is tenfold. Guyana and Guyanese can achieve what Minister Gaskin points to. Doing this requires commitment towards the ideals.

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