By Naomi Parris
THE Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and several other stakeholders, will soon be launching the country’s first online market for small agro-processing businesses and enterprises.
This was revealed, on Wednesday, by GMSA President, Mr. Shyam Nokta, during an agriculture webinar where he engaged a number of stakeholders and small business owners.

Nokta noted that, with the impact the pandemic has had on the agriculture sector, stakeholders need to take action quickly to reach out to those affected.
“We needed to act, adapt and to be proactive; we also recognise that to be a body we need early focus on value adding; we could not ignore the supply aspect of this important sector. In fact, one of the main challenges to agro-processing is the ready supply and availability of materials and produce… we felt like we needed to bring the key stakeholders working in agriculture, large and small agro-groups and processors, policy makers, donor organisations and other stakeholders in Guyana and in the diaspora ,” he said during his address.

He added that the webinar could not have been done at a more opportune time, since the new government has indicated that agriculture is one of its main priorities, and has taken immediate actions to give a push to the sector, from a list of budget measures.
COVID-19 has brought its fair share of challenges, nationally and internationally and no sector has been spared. During this period, he noted, that many multilateral organisations are likely to be relooking at their country strategies.

“Business in Guyana and overseas are looking to invest and expand; it is for these reasons that the GMSA, as a leading private sector body with majority of our members from the agro-processing sector, seized the opportunity to bring stakeholders together,” he added.

He also told those who were gathered at the webinar that Guyana had started the transition from subsistence farming to medium and large-scale ventures and Guyanese now have the unique opportunity, as a country, to supply oil revenues to support diversification.

“On our own, GMSA has sought to build on its previous initiatives. I am pleased to announce that we have taken the step to transition our successful uncapped initiatives to an online portal, with special focus on small and micro-enterprises. Through this effort, the intention is to establish an online market place, showcasing the agro-products locally produced and connecting businesses with the market,” he said.

That, he noted, will provide micro agro-processing businesses with a platform to market their businesses during the pandemic, and for the agriculture sector to take the next step in supporting a green low-carbon economy, while exploring issues of innovative technology to foresee smart agriculture in Guyana.