IICA to support the development of Guyana’s trade in agricultural products

San Jose, Costa Rica, June 3rd, 2013 (IICA). According to the Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, Leslie Ramsammy, his ministry’s priorities are the development of an agrofuels unit, the establishment of programs to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change, and compliance with international trade standards.

During a visit to the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Minister discussed with IICA Director General, Víctor M. Villalobos the technical assistance that his country requires to promote agriculture for development.

“We want an agricultural sector that will drive economic development and generate well-being, that is the kind of sector we want to see develop. In Guyana, we have the land, the water, and the technical expertise needed to promote this type of agriculture,” Ramsammy remarked.

The Director General of IICA noted that few countries were blessed with such a wealth of resources; Guyana should take advantage of them to feed the world and generate value added through agribusinesses.

Guyana is especially important for IICA, as it is the country where the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has its Headquarters. The Institute provides technical and financial support to the regional organization and some of its initiatives, such as the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu and the Jagdeo Initiative, which aims to bring about improvements in agricultural production and study the use of land and consumption patterns throughout the region.

Mr. Ramsammy was accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of Guyana’s National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, Oudho Homenauth; the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority, Dindyal Permaul; and the IICA Representative in his country, Wilmot Garnett.

The delegation expressed interest in the implementation of an IICA proposal for agricultural health and food safety that includes Guyana, Haiti, and Canada, designed to facilitate trade among the three nations.

Mr. Ramsammy also raised the issue of IICA cooperation in biotechnology, agro-processing and the creation of a market information system that would afford farmers access to information about the demand for, and possible prices of, their products.

Milk production is another issue in which the ministry is interested. Accordingly, during their stay in Costa Rica, members of the delegation visited the Dos Pinos cooperative, founded in 1947, which now has 15,000 members and exports dairy products to 13 countries.

At the cooperative’s facilities, the delegation from Guyana observed how the cooperative operates and the production and distribution processes for different products, including ice cream and different types of milk and juice.

Since the Guyanese Minister of Agriculture also wishes to forge alliances with higher education centers, he visited the EARTH University on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast to learn about its admission procedures and the possibility of students from his country being granted scholarships to study agronomy there.

Mr. Ramsammy also expressed interest in the IICA-CONACYT scholarships for graduate studies in Mexico, and the distance education that the Institute offers.

For more information, contact: 
wilmot.garnett@iica.int