– Ministry points to 2020-2025 growth, defends record on sugar and food prices; accepts weaker first half of 2026

THE Ministry of Agriculture has dismissed an APNU call for a National Agricultural Transformation Plan, saying the opposition ignored an existing, funded policy agenda and relied on a six-month downturn to describe a sector that has expanded sharply since 2020.
In a statement responding to APNU’s Agriculture Month 2026 press release, the Ministry said it welcomed serious discussion on the future of agriculture. It accused APNU of presenting a selective account of the sector’s performance and overlooking damage done to production under the APNU/AFC administration.
Contraction acknowledged, but narrow
The Ministry did not dispute that agriculture, forestry and fishing contracted by 0.5 per cent in the first half of 2026, as the Government’s Mid-Year Report confirms. It said the decline was driven mainly by the Other Crops subsector, which fell 6.4 per cent after sustained above-normal rainfall disrupted planting, damaged crops and restricted access to farmland.
The Ministry said other subsectors grew over the same period: Sugar rose 19.3 per cent; Livestock rose 17.5 per cent; Forestry rose 15.4 per cent; Rice rose 4.4 per cent; and Fishing rose 4.1 per cent.
Five-year comparison
The Ministry argued that comparing the two most recent five-year periods gives a more reliable picture. It said that between 2015 and 2020 the sector contracted at an average annualised real rate of about 3.1 per cent, with its constant-price value falling from roughly G$224.9 billion to G$192.2 billion.
Between 2020 and 2025, it said, the sector grew at an average annualised real rate of about 17.9 per cent, with its value rising from G$192.2 billion to about G$437 billion, an increase of G$244.8 billion. The Ministry said this means the sector’s real value fell by about 14.5 per cent in the first period and has more than doubled since.
Annualised livestock growth rose from about 2.8 per cent to 12.6 per cent between the two periods, the Ministry said, while forestry, fishing and rice moved from contraction to growth. It described the figures as official statistics, not “projections, promises or political declarations”.
PLAN ‘ALREADY EXISTS’
On APNU’s central demand, the Ministry said the areas it listed (climate-resilient infrastructure, financing, agro-processing, research, market access and exports) are already part of government policy.
It cited the president’s five-year programme, which names agriculture a central pillar of diversification. The programme includes 100,000 acres of additional arable land, expanded drainage and irrigation, agro-processing and industrial development, and improved access to financing.
Budget 2026 allocated G$113.2 billion to the sector, including G$81.9 billion for drainage and irrigation. The Ministry said further funds support shade houses, research, planting materials, cold storage, mechanisation, aquaculture and logistics.
It also said the Guyana Development Bank is now operational, offering eligible farmers and small businesses loans of up to G$3 million without interest or collateral.
The Ministry accepted that spending alone does not prove success. It said infrastructure must become operational, acreage must expand, productivity must improve and farmers’ incomes must rise, and it described these as legitimate yardsticks. But it said acknowledging the need for better implementation is different from claiming no strategy exists.
GuySuCo and the APNU/AFC record
The Ministry called APNU’s criticism of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) “perhaps the most revealing part” of its statement. It noted that APNU now proposes restructuring, diversification, professional management and protection of sugar-dependent communities.
When APNU/AFC was in government, the ministry said, it closed the Wales, East Demerara, Rose Hall and Skeldon estates, directly affecting 7,047 workers. These comprised 5,262 permanent workers who were severed and 1,785 temporary workers. The ministry said the Commission of Inquiry commissioned by that administration did not recommend closing the estates at that time.
Restoring the lost capacity, it said, requires rehabilitating and replanting fields, allowing cane to mature, restoring drainage, machinery and factories, and recruiting and training skilled workers. These are multi-year processes, it said.
The Ministry did not excuse the industry’s present problems. It described the downward revision of the 2026 sugar production target as disappointing and said it shows the work that remains. It said it will judge the industry by output, unit costs, financial performance and the welfare of sugar workers.
Food prices and rice
The Ministry called APNU’s concern over a 6.7 per cent rise in food prices between December 2025 and June 2026 legitimate. But it said prices cannot be attributed solely to agricultural production or government spending, citing weather disruptions, imported inflation, transport costs, distribution margins and demand.
It pointed to its farmers’ market programme as a way to ease prices and widen market access for producers, and said the initiative has been well received. The Government has also paid about G$2.8 billion to 5,106 rice farmers in the first half of 2026, it said, and crop-insurance payments have begun for farmers hit by adverse weather.
On APNU’s reference to falling rice export earnings, the Ministry said receipts and production are different measures. It said rice output reached about 414,088 tonnes of rice equivalent in the first half of 2026, up from 410,194 tonnes a year earlier, and that a drop in export receipts does not by itself show lower production.
IMF assessment
The Ministry said APNU’s use of the International Monetary Fund’s October 2026 assessment was incomplete. It said the IMF also found the government’s strategy appropriately emphasises diversification, resilience and sustainability, and that its recommendations on productivity-enhancing infrastructure, food security, climate resilience and public-sector oversight are consistent with existing policy.
Ministry’s closing position
The Ministry said it does not claim every challenge has been resolved. It acknowledged that sugar needs improvement, that Other Crops must recover and that drainage and irrigation need continued expansion and maintenance.
It said many of APNU’s objectives are ones it shares, but that they are already part of a funded national programme with implementation under way. It called on APNU to be more forthcoming about its own administration’s record, particularly the closure of the sugar estates, before presenting itself as the architect of agricultural transformation.
“On that test, the record speaks for itself,” the Ministry said.