–as Guyana looks to leverage expertise from Brazil, IICA
GUYANA is exploring a range of management reforms, technical upgrades and intercropping initiatives aimed at revitalising the sugar industry, as the government seeks to draw on Brazil’s expertise to improve productivity, diversify revenue streams and strengthen the long-term sustainability of the sector.
This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali, who last week met with the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr Muhammad Ibrahim and the Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil, Cleber Soares, during a recent state visit.
Guyana has already set out a multi‑pronged modernisation agenda that includes management reforms, technological upgrades at sugar mills, field mechanisation and the exploration of intercropping to diversify incomes and add value across sugar estates.
India and other international partners such as IICA and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) were named as prospective technical supporters in the effort.
“One of the areas that we need to fix now is sugar. We’re working with India, and we’ve asked IICA for some support on how we can really get this right,” President Ali said during the meeting, signalling the government’s intent to bring in expertise to address longstanding structural issues.
“We have the fixed management issues, technology issues, the modernisation of the mills. We have the mechanisation of the fields is ongoing. We have to look at intercropping to see what value can be created. So, we’re working on those things,” he added.
Speaking more broadly about Guyana’s agricultural trajectory and the role of international partnerships, President Ali compared the country’s ambitions to Brazil’s transformation into a global food exporter.
“Brazil imported more than 80 per cent of [their] food. Today, [they are] a net exporter to more than 190 countries. I think that we have been able to fast‑track that over the last five years,” he said, underscoring the government’s goal of replicating aspects of Brazil’s success through strategic partnerships and technology transfer.
Last month President Ali had signalled imminent management changes and a technical overhaul at underperforming Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) estates.
He had made it clear that the focus will be on estates that have consistently failed to deliver, with particular attention on top-level leadership.
“You’ll definitely see action on some of these estates that have not performed. They must be, especially at the senior management level and the head office at these places, the estates there need to be some rationalisation,” he had said.
It was previously reported that the corporation closed 2025 with production of approximately 59,200 tonnes of sugar, falling short of even its already reduced final-crop target of 60,000 tonnes.
That figure is also significantly below the revised 2025 target of 70,000 tonnes, and far off the original target of 80,000 tonnes.
