Chastened by the relatively sudden disappearance of the economic windfall that had been triggered by the PetroCaribe oil for rice deal, the business community on the Essequibo Coast is still seeking to find its feet in a changed economic environment where the loss of a 200,000-tonne rice market has created deep uncertainty for the industry.
Essequibo farmers may have a direct reason for bemoaning the altered fortunes of rice, but the ripples have spread way beyond the rice sector and permeated into the business community as a whole. It may not be accurate to say that Essequibo is ready to have a requiem for rice, but there is evidence of a modest, discernable measure of diversification, with the prospect of a revival of the coconut industry seemingly generating a healthy measure of enthusiasm, if not – at least as yet – an actual response on the ground.
