Guyana Office for Investment

Guyana’s vast tracts of productive land present enormous opportunities for growth. Indeed, agriculture already represents a significant proportion of Guyana’s domestic production (approximately 25 percent of GDP) and agriculture exports amounted to over a third of Guyana’s total exports in 2004. While about 90 percent of Guyana’s 2005 agriculture exports consisted of rice or sugar products, the value and share of processed goods and fresh fruit and vegetable exports have experienced a positive growth trend in recent years. This is a result of efforts by the Government and the private sector to diversify Guyana’s agricultural sector. With the right investments, Guyana could easily become the ‘breadbasket of the Caribbean’ while at the same time increasing exports to markets in North America and Europe.

Traditional Agriculture Products
Recent changes in the global trading environment, such as the reduction of guaranteed prices for rice and sugar in the E.U., have placed pressure on Guyana’s traditional agricultural exports. Nevertheless, investments in productivity and efforts to shift exports towards non-E.U. markets can help ensure that rice and sugar remain mainstays of Guyana’s economy for some time into the future.

	Box 2.3: Guysuco Responding to Challenges in the Global Sugar Market
	Recognizing the challenges posed by recent developments in the global sugar market, Guysuco is embarking on an ambitious plan to modernize Guyana’s sugar industry. Guysuco plans to expand and enhance production through a US$165 million modernization program, including a new US$135 million sugar-processing factory at Skeldon in Eastern Guyana. The company plans to expand sugar cane cultivation on 13,000 hectares of new land while cutting the current cost of sugar production in half. As part of this project, Guysuco plans to include a co-generation electricity plant fuelled by cane waste, as well as a white sugar factory. Guysuco expects overall production to grow by more than 25 percent over the next four years.

Sugar
Sugar accounts for nearly 12 percent of GDP and over 20 percent of Guyana’s exports (2005). Most sugar exports are destined for the E.U. under a preferential trade agreement. The CARICOM region, which is protected by the common external tariff (CET), is also an important market for Guyanese sugar. Sugar is produced by the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco). In 2005, production amounted to nearly 259,000 metric tons. While cuts in the E.U.’s guaranteed prices will have an impact on the industry, a modernization program with significant investment by Guysuco (see Box 2.3) will help maintain the profitability of the sector by raising annual production to 450,000 metric tons.

Although the sector is mature, opportunities still exist in processing the raw product into crystallized sugar, as well as the brown sugar market, which Guysuco reports to be under-served throughout the CARICOM region. Opportunities also exist for the by-products of sugar-based products, such as ethanol.

Rice
Rice accounted for nearly 9 percent of Guyana’s exports in 2005. Like sugar, Guyana exports rice primarily to Europe and the CARICOM region. According to the Guyana Rice Development Board, this trade pattern is starting to shift following the E.U.’s reduction in the guaranteed price for Guyanese rice. However, Guyana could further expand its market share in the Caribbean; currently it holds 50 percent of the Jamaican rice market. Furthermore, Brazil is emerging as an important export destination, as the Brazil-Guyana Partial Scope Agreement established a quota for duty-free importation of Guyanese rice. While sufficient Brazilian demand exists, this quota has yet to be met due to a lack of supply.

Opportunities exist to improve productivity by upgrading milling facilities for export so they can manufacture value-added rice products, such as breakfast cereal and quick cooking rice.

Non-Traditional Agricultural Exports
Although Guyana’s mature sugar and rice industries will continue to play an important role in Guyana’s economy, the non-traditional agriculture sector is beginning to show high growth potential. For example, agro-processing exports (excluding rum) experienced an average growth of nearly 9 percent since 2000, jumping over 20 percent in 2005. With investments in production, facilities, quality assurance and processing, non-traditional agriculture could become an engine of export growth.

	Box 2.4: AMCAR: Collaborating with Local Communities to Succeed in the Global Organic Market
	Known for its exports of organic heart of palms and pineapples, Amazon Caribbean Ltd. (AMCAR) shows how the utilization of Guyana’s unspoiled, certifiable organic land and indigenous farming communities can enable companies to take advantage of high-value niche markets abroad.
	While the company initially produced hearts of palms for the Guyanese and Venezuelan markets, the company realized that it could capture higher prices for its products if they were sold as indigenous organic products in markets further abroad. Although AMCAR’s hearts of palms had always been both organic and indigenous, they were never marketed as such. AMCAR shifted its marketing efforts towards France and OECD markets where indigenous organic products enjoy premium market prices. AMCAR quickly acquired organic certification from ECOCERT (a German certifier) for heart of palms and entered the European market, not only for heart of palm, but also a variety of other indigenous organically grown crops, including pineapple.
	In addition to certification and marketing organic products, AMCAR took another step to ensure success: ensuring that the Amerindian suppliers of its produce would not engage in non-organic farming practices. This was achieved by moving towards the use of sustainable plantations owned and operated by Amerindians trained in organic farming. Through a partnership with UNDP and Government of Guyana, AMCAR trained 500 Amerindians in farming skills, particularly in organic production. Through the training and production via organized plantations, AMCAR was able to secure its supply chain, while at the same time providing secure income earning opportunities for Amerindian communities.
	As a result of this approach, AMCAR has enjoyed dramatic growth, from employing 30 people in one factory and exporting thirteen 20-foot containers to France to employing 400 people, operating two factories and exporting over 100 containers annually to Europe, the U.S., Middle East and South America.
	Source: UNDP and UWI Institute of Business. The Millennium Goals and the Private Sector: The Caribbean Experience. 2005

Diverse Agricultural Environments – Guyana is endowed with an abundance of diverse agricultural environments, which include: 1) highly fertile soils in the coastal areas—currently used extensively for rice and sugarcane production—with large parcels of flat irrigated land that can be used for fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and beef production (Guyana has been certified as foot-and-mouth free); and 2) intermediate savannahs with untapped opportunities to produce beef, milk, mutton, citrus, corn, cashew nuts, legumes, peanuts, soybeans, dairy products, and orchard crops. The savannahs have large tracts of brown soils that are well drained and responsive to fertilization, creating an ideal environment for the application of high technology and the establishment of medium/large scale agriculture operations.
Organic cropland – Guyana has large expanses of land that have never been used for modern agriculture and remain totally free of agricultural chemicals. These lands could be certified for organic production within one year, as opposed to the traditional three-year certification process.
Irrigation – Nearly 30 percent of Guyana’s cropland is currently irrigated.
Agricultural Population – Whereas the populations of most Caribbean countries have become urbanized, over 50 percent of Guyana’s population remains rural and closely linked to agriculture.
Trainable Farmers – Guyana’s farmers are eager to learn new methods and practices, such that technology transfer occurs quickly when the appropriate systems are put in place, resulting in an immediate impact on productivity and quality.
Markets – Guyana’s proximity to the CARICOM and North American markets enables exporters to supply consumers with fresh produce as well as meet the demands of a growing food processing industry in the region. Many products receive duty-free or reduced duty access to regional markets.

Fresh Fruits – International demand for fresh fruit is growing. Market potential exists for citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and limes, as well as exotic fruits such as mangoes, sapodillas, papayas, pineapples, and passion fruit. However, exporters must be able to establish modern post-harvest handling and quality systems to prevent spoilage in transit, and must meet international phytosanitary controls. Additional value can be achieved by shipping selected fruits to destination markets by air, thereby ensuring maximum freshness. In addition to exportation, opportunities exist for fruit farmers to supply the tourism industry as well as the expanding agro-processing industry in Guyana and the Caribbean.
Fresh Vegetables – Export opportunities exist for a range of vegetables such as cucumber, pumpkins, watermelon, melon, saeme, bora, and callalloo within the Caribbean and North American markets. However, Guyana's ability to supply international markets is currently hampered by the time required to transport its products to market. An increase in airlift capacity would create enormous export opportunities for this sector. In addition to fresh produce, current opportunities exist to supply Guyanese or Caribbean food processors with raw inputs.
Plantains, Roots and Tubers – There is potential to increase Guyana’s exports of selected plantain, roots and tubers to ethnic markets in the Caribbean, North America and Europe. Opportunities also exist for malanga, breadfruit and ground provisions as raw inputs in the snack food industry.
Organic Products – As noted above, Guyana has large tracts of land free of agricultural chemicals, providing a unique opportunity to meet a growing demand for organic products in North America and Europe. In most cases, organic products receive a premium price compared to their conventional counterparts. Organic cocoa, pineapple and heart of palm are already being grown for export (See Box 2.4). Organic products could also find a welcome market within Guyana and throughout the Caribbean among hotels and restaurants that serve discriminating tourists.
Herbs and Spices – There is growing demand in the Caribbean, North America and Europe for hot peppers, eschallots, celery and other ingredients for seasoning, all of which grow abundantly in various parts of Guyana.
Livestock and Dairy Products – There are excellent investment opportunities for the production of meat (beef and mutton), poultry products, milk and milk products for both domestic consumption and export to the Caribbean. In particular, Guyana’s savannahs provide a favorable environment for medium to large-scale cattle raising. Guyana has been certified as foot-and-mouth free, providing it with favorable access to many markets.
Processed Foods – Opportunities exist for processing, or semi-processing, produce and animal products. Already, Guyana’s exotic and gourmet food products are in demand in Caribbean, North American and European markets. Products with a large growth potential include jams, jellies, sauces, processed spices and fruit puree blends.
Agricultural Support Services – Since the non-traditional agricultural sector is still emerging, there is an ongoing need for investment in inputs, machinery, and support services. In particular, there are opportunities for air cargo service providers to expand flights for agricultural exports, as well as for investments in cold storage facilities, post-harvest handling, and packaging services.

	Box 2.5: The New GMC: Promoting the Export of Non-Traditional Products
	The New GMC provides a wide range of services to producers and exporters of non-traditional exports: A Central Packaging Facility (CPF) in Georgetown, where producers are offered standardized cleaning and packaging services for fresh produce for export on a daily basis.
	Marketing and promotion assistance that includes market intelligence, advice on market opportunities, registration of exporters who meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bioterrorism regulations, monitoring of market prices, and a one-stop desk for export documentation for non-traditional produce. One of the New GMC’s popular products is the country-specific export marketing bulletins that provide profiles of key markets for products with strong export potential.
	Producer support, including farmer training, technical assistance related to post-harvest technologies, agricultural technicians, input and supply sourcing assistance, and export readiness assessments for farmers.
	For more information, visit www.newgmc.com

There are a number of government and private organizations involved in the agricultural products sector. The two principal government agencies responsible for promoting agricultural development in Guyana are the Crops and Livestock Division of the Ministry of Fisheries, Crops & Livestock (MFCL) and the Ministry of Agriculture(MOA). The MOA coordinates the activities of several departments and semi-autonomous bodies related to the major export crops (e.g. sugar and rice). The MFCL is responsible for the provision of extension services for the production of crops and livestock as well as agricultural health activities for plants and animals.

New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC) is a government agency charged with promoting the development and exportation of non-traditional agricultural commodities. (See Box 2.5)

The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), which is a part of the MOA, produces research designed to generate the technologies and systems required to maintain national self-sufficiency and export capacity. NARI is also involved in the development of the Intermediate Savannahs.

The Guyana Agri-Business Association (GABA) is a private association whose mission is to increase the level of technological input in agriculture and agro-processing to create a culture of best practices in local research, and to develop policies for the national agricultural sector.

The Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA), represents agro-processing and other non-traditional agriculture companies (see details under manufacturing sector below).