THE May 19-21 Agri-Investment Forum & Expo starting at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Thursday invites participants to “Showcase products and services, network with local, regional and international businesses and investors” and “Gain invaluable knowledge from pioneers in the agriculture industry.”

Sponsored by the Guyana Government, Go-Invest and One Guyana, the weekend event aims to encourage and attract Guyanese and business entities (at home and abroad) interested in investing in agriculture in CARICOM’s largest country with the most agricultural potential.

The forum and expo come at a time when Guyana is responsible for agriculture within CARICOM and with President, Dr Irfaan Ali as the Head-of-Government responsible for encouraging the region to reduce its sky-high multi-billion-dollar food-importation bill by at least 25 per cent in 2025, and encouraging fast-forward movement towards regional food security, precisely when the entire world is reeling under the tidal-wave effects of rising food shortages and prices.

Coming on the heels of the hybrid international oil-and-gas energy conference in Georgetown earlier this year that preceded the Ukraine war, the weekend forum and expo will also yield opportunities for exchanges of old and new ideas for advancing agriculture in Guyana’s new dispensation and the emerging post-COVID and Ukraine global environment, where food security has become an even greater global priority.

The Guyana government has thrown out the challenges and invitations for entrepreneurs and start-up thinkers in Guyana, across CARICOM and beyond the region, to think deeply and come up with new solutions and approaches to the old problems that bedevilled agriculture in the recent bygone era of total concentration on sugar and rice for the majority of export earnings.

Agriculture today is capable — like never before — of benefiting from the possibilities of turning challenges into opportunities.

The effect of the war on global access to wheat is only the latest perfect example of the imbalance in production and distribution of this essential food item.

Ukraine, as the world’s biggest producer, is unable to export; India (the world’s second-largest producer) has had to reduce exports to preserve local stocks; and Russia (another major world producer) is experiencing uninterrupted production growth.

Guyana has already invested in research and preparation for experimenting with different varieties of wheat to open the way for possible wheat production.

Other traditional and non-traditional agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors are also benefiting from the new openings in areas ranging from poultry farming to shrimp harvesting.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, youthful minds and ideas will mix and match with traditional approaches that have served well over time, out of which mature dialogue and exchange can emerge the germination of seedlings for new approaches to today and tomorrow’s challenges.

The challenges and possibilities also include introduction of new products based on needs analyses and a mix of other factors, including nutritional and other health benefits, development of local tastes and markets, prioritising export viability – and ensuring historical continuity by investing in youth involvement and integration into an industry their parents either daily plowed to plough the heavy costs of their education.

The 2022 agriculture forum and expo offer opportunities for investment of new ideas and resources into new areas of national development that will redound to the common good.

With the innumerable opportunities in this age of digitisation of agriculture, when the industry is no longer seen as only back-breaking work without labourers tasting the fruitful harvests of their labour, the weekend event will definitely open the doors and ways for innovative ideas to be presented and planted, nourished and harvested, for the benefit of all.