THE Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations two years ago drew attention to the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI)’s report that Guyana loses up to 23 per cent of the cassava it produces, and that 30 per cent of our fruits are dumped.

This sampling of wastage in our society, when hunger and poverty around the world persist, ought to serve as a 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 NAREI’s figures are telling us is that there exists an underlying deficit that ought to addressed, particularly in the areas of capacity for storage, distribution and markets.

President David Granger and some of his ministers have also routinely called on Guyanese to buy and consume local products. 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 on local foods, admittedly, has left Guyana somewhat behind in several instances. In addition to technology (that is, research and development), the appreciation for local products has diminished. Rectifying both requires investment, monetarily and culturally.

A process of education could include empowering producers and vendors with packaging techniques to make their products attractive, in addition to avoiding or minimising damage. Preservation and presentation techniques should also aim at putting the country at a competitive advantage in the global market.

At the self-sufficiency level, production of fresh foods enhances the nation’s developmental thrust, assists the people’s desire for a 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 unusual to see Guyanese shying away from our local products. Some have come to associate using such products with poverty. Such conditioning matters not that imported foods, most of which are processed, are not only unhealthy, but divert 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 the government has to create the enabling environment for production and consumption to thrive, there are some areas that readily come to mind.

The government can look at providing institutional strengthening to NAREI through increased 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 facilities and availability, and other relevant factors.

In penetrating the international market, the government could utilise its overseas missions, whereby commercial units can be set up to monitor economic activities, including preferential tastes in the host countries. Guyana and Guyanese can achieve what the President has been calling on them to do. But doing so requires commitment to the ideals.