EXPANDING service delivery to livestock farmers in Guyana will drastically boost the country’s economy, and its agriculture sector. This view was promulgated by Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy on Friday last during the launching of the Ministry of Agriculture/Guyana Livestock Delivery Authority (MoA/GLDA) riverine boat service in the Essequibo island of Leguan, in Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands).

Critical
Stressing that agriculture is critical to the lives of everyone in Guyana, Minister Ramsammy said: “Agriculture is very significant in Leguan and all of the Essequibo islands, and more importantly, Guyana. You take agriculture from Guyana and we are nothing.”
He said all citizens should appreciate that the country’s success has been propelled by agriculture, and that agriculture is one of the main drivers behind Guyana moving from being a colonial country to becoming a middle income country continuously striving to improve itself.
“Today, we are a middle income country largely because of the success of agriculture,” he said.
Dr Ramsammy posited that agriculture is responsible for more than 20% of the country’s economy, and that, with the exception of forestry and fisheries, agriculture contributes about 15% of Guyana’s economy; no other single sector contributes that much to the economy.
He noted that, in places like Leguan, agriculture constitutes 100 percent of people’s livelihood.
He was confident that Guyana has the capacity to produce chicken on a large scale and even for export, but he said there are a few inconsistencies in this regard, and these will be regularized in due time.
“Also, we are meeting the needs for other meats, such as beef etc,” he noted, even as he conceded that there is vast room for improvement in that regard.
Minister Ramsammy said Guyana needs to develop and expand its livestock industry if it is serious about exporting meats, especially to large countries.
“That is why we have to develop productive capacity; in other words, building an export portfolio.”
Minister Ramsammy said Guyana has the capacity to sustain a very large livestock sector.

Sugar
Turning his attention to the sugar industry, the minister emphasized that several major setbacks have led to the industry’s production shortfall, but he noted that the country was able to fulfil its export commitments.
He said Guyana consumes only about 30,000 tonnes of sugar per annum, the rest is exported to international markets. Likewise, he said, the same thing should be done in the livestock sector.
“Many countries simply do not have the capacity to develop… they simply do not have (the) livestock industry to supply all their needs and also for export, and this gives Guyana a good advantage,” he stated.
He highlighted that Guyana already is at a point where it has acquired most of its prerequisites to go ahead with the livestock expansion programme.
“We already have one of the prerequisites for this, and that is land. We do have land, unlike many other countries where scarcity of land and water is a major problem.
Another very important prerequisite the country has is people who are committed and could rear and export commodities very well. Dr Ramsammy said Guyana has people who understand what needs to be done in that regard.
However, he said that while there are certain necessities in place already, there is still more to do if the livestock expansion initiative is to be as successful as the country would like.
Agriculture production, he said, accounts for approximately 14.5% of Guyana’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Agriculture and agri- related industries are considered internationally as one of the main avenues of poverty alleviation, he said.