Volunteer doctors to review cattle, dairy industry

Volunteers from Partners of the Americas’ Farmer to Farmer programme are expected to review the status of the local cattle industry and to make recommendations for the marketing of its dairy products.

According to a press release from the organisation, the programme’s volunteers and doctors Geoffrey A Benson, Steven P Washburn, Francis X Higdon and John E Rushing started work here on January 6 and will remain up to January 20th to review the status of the cattle industry with a view to evaluating the possibilities of developing an export market for beef and to make recommendations for the dairy industry and product market.

The doctors will meet with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Dairy Development Project, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, the National Agricultural Research Institute and the Guyana Dairy Development Project as well as with cattle farmers and other cattle industry stakeholders.

The team is also expected to meet with officials from the United States (US) Embassy and the US Agency for International Development.

The release said that the programme improves economic opportunities in rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean by increasing food production and distribution, promoting better farm and marketing operations and conserving natural resources. Volunteers from the US work with farmers and agribusiness owners in Guyana, Haiti, and Jamaica to identify local needs and design projects to address them.