AGRICULTURE Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, has disclosed plans to expand the mandate of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to provide a support system for local farmers and create sustainable markets for them to sell their produce.
The minister, during the Ministry of Agriculture’s special report on Tuesday, said a newly revamped New GMC will be working in collaboration with the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to provide training opportunities and extended markets for farmers. “What we will have to do is train a number of persons; we will have to train farmers on how they can package their produce and things like that…. The New GMC and the Guyana School of Agriculture and other agencies, too, will have to work very closely and I have been meeting with together since I have become Minister of Agriculture, and I think this kind of relation and interaction amongst these agencies is looking very good.”

The minister further stated that the government will be looking to establish a number of processing facilities in a number of farming communities.
“The New GMC and the Guyana School of Agriculture will have to work very closely because what we are looking to do now is build these agriculture processing facilities around the country; we are looking to build one on the East Coast of Demerara at Hope, we are looking for building in Region 10 and we already have one in Parika, in Region Three, and we are looking to have one in Region Two, and I am hoping that we can build one in Region Six.”
Additionally, the minister said that works on the cold-storage facility at Mora-Parika will begin soon.

During a recent visit to the facility, the minister noted that the building has not been utilised to its full potential over the years and many of the equipment today are not functioning as they should. However, he has instructed the GMC’s Board of Directors and General Manager, Teshawna Lall, to formulate a strategy to restore the facility. “It’s a beautiful building, but it is underutilised, so I have asked her to come up with some plans on how we can utilise this private-public partnership. We will put out an advertisement for expressions of interest and also we will be meeting with farmers to sensitise and [encourage] them to start using back this facility so we can provide services.” Additionally, in the 2021 Budget, the GMC has been allocated $293 million to facilitate these and several other agricultural projects.