Heightened focus on marketing information to boost exports

Georgetown, GINA, January 14, 2008.

Heightened emphasis is being placed on the development of more strategies that will provide farmers with better marketing information to increase production, productivity and agricultural exports from Guyana.
            At present, efforts are being made to establish and upgrade a Farmers’ Database at the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) that will better inform the agency on the types of crops available, amount and locations.
This, according to GMC’s General Manager Nizam Hassan will enable the Corporation to better advise buyers and create more market linkages with farmers and other producers. Technical officers from the GMC, Ministry of Agriculture’s Extension Services Unit and the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) are currently soliciting necessary information from farmers to set up the system.
            In addition, farmers are being encouraged to take-on a more market-driven approach with regard to production so that there will be guaranteed markets for their crops. They are also being urged to explore the cultivation of other crops especially those which are in high demand on the local and international markets. Under the Poor Rural Communities Support Project (PRCSSP), NARI has worked with farmers to introduce several crops being demanded on the markets such as pineapples, plantains and pumpkins.
Through agencies such as the NARI, various departments of the Agriculture Ministry and GMC, training programmes have been conducted to increase farmers’ knowledge.
These initiatives are in keeping with Government’s thrust to boost the agricultural sector so that farmers can enjoy more benefits and improve their livelihood, while the economy will continue to grow.
Last year, the GMC launched its Marketing Information Centre which facilitates and coordinates development of non-traditional agricultural produce for export. It has made market information and contact more accessible to guide clients on current market trends and demand at the global level.
At the Centre, market agents provide guidance for possible linkages between farmers and prospective buyers/exporters. This approach contributes directly to Government’s goal to achieve optimum production in the country’s non-traditional agricultural sector and to make the agri-business sector more efficient.    
            GMC plays an instrumental role in the export of non-traditional produce to Barbados, Antigua and St. Lucia. The corporation is currently working to develop a similar link with Trinidad and Tobago. It was through the GMC, that market linkages were formed with different buyers from the United States of America for peppers, plantain and corn flour.
Exports of non-traditional produce for 2007 recorded a 25 percent increase in fresh produce when compared to the previous year. The two leading crops exported were watermelons and plantains.
           

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