New GPC commissions first Agri-Business Development Incubator

Minister Mustapha and other officials with locally produced products on
display in the Agri-Business Development Incubator

The New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC) recently launched the country’s first Agri-
Business Development Incubator at La Bonne Intention (LBI) on the eastern corridor.
The $26M facility will be a a one-stop shop for agro-processors and other agri-business
practitioners.
It will offer design and printing of product labels; generation of barcodes and nutritional facts;
assistance with completing business registration and Government Analyst-Food and Drug forms,
and US Food and Drugs-Administration (FDA) registration documents.
Interested persons can also get advice on processing and packaging facilities’ requirements in
keeping with globally accepted norms.
At Friday’s launch, Agriculture Minister, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha told attendees that state
agencies such as the New GMC have a critical role to play in developing Guyana’s agriculture
sector as the government moves to reorganise, refocus, and restructure the entity to help attract
key investments to stimulate the production of more high-quality, value-added products for
domestic consumption and foreign export.

“For five years, prior to August 2020, sectors like the agriculture sector were neglected. No
effort or major investments were made to develop and modernise such a critical sector. But today
we are seeing a change. Investments like what we are here to commission will enhance not only
the country’s development, but also our country’s position in taking its rightful place as an
agriculture powerhouse in the region,” Minister Mustapha told his listeners.
He continued: “Today’s exercise alone represents an investment of over $26 million. With these
key investments, the government is taking the necessary steps to move Guyana from being a
primary producer, to a country capable of creating more value-added-products for both domestic
consumption and export while enhancing the capabilities of our farmers and producers.”
The government minister said activities such as the New GMC launch is part of the Irfaan Ali
administration’s wider vision to ensure the country’s agriculture is managed to guatantee its
food-security.

“This year, the Government will be investing in approximately nine agro-processing facilities
across the country. These facilities will not only be in urban areas. We are making these
investments across the country targeting rural areas as well. We are also working in tandem with
the private sector to form meaningful publicprivate-partnerships,” Mustapha revealed.
He further disclosed that “one of the Ministry’s aims is to ensure Guyana has food security but
we cannot have food security if we do not have the necessary facilities. If we are going to be the
country to lead the agri-food system agenda in the Caribbean then we have to invest in
infrastructure so that we can modernise, improve, and develop the sector.”
Guyana’s food production index (FPI) grew at an annual average rate of 2.05 percent between
1969 and 2018. Food production index includes food crops that are considered edible and that
contain nutrients. However, coffee and tea are not considered in the FPI list because, although
edible, they have no nutritive value.

Meanwhile, three all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and two four-tonne refrigerated trucks were also
commissioned at last week’s New GMC event. The former will be used to serve farmers in
outlying areas in Mabaruma, Kamarang, and Linden, while the latter will complement existing
cold storage facilities at the Central Packaging Facility in Georgetown and the Parika Agro-
Processing Facility.
General Manager of the New GMC, Ms. Teshawana Lall, said the investments will positively
enhance New GMC’s contributions to its stakeholders.
“The ATVs will be used by GMC’s Agriculture Extension Officers mainly in the Hinterland
Regions, to determine farmers’ scale of production, inform them of GMC’s services, link them to
buyers, and address marketing concerns,” Lall said.
She said: “This will further support the improvement of GMC’s farmers and agro-processors
database in addition to having information readily accessible to stakeholders. Furthermore,
maintaining the cold chain of perishable agriculture commodities during transport is imperative
to its shelf life and marketability.”

“As such, these two 20ft refrigerated trucks will assist with the increased requests by our
local stakeholders, especially farmers, exporters, and supermarket operators,” GM Lall
explained.