It is altogether unsurprising that the country’s agriculture sector has been allocated the enormous sum of $G97.6 Billion from this year’s overall budget allocation for the execution of the various assignments that fall under the Ministry’s portfolio. This year, the Ministry’s agenda will have to take account not just what it will take to meet domestic food consumption costs but also the costs that will have to be incurred in pursuing its considerable obligation to the critical regional food security undertaking to which it is now considerably obligated. Amongst the various portfolios the Ministry of Agriculture must surely come close to the top of the state agencies that must help finance the growth and development of sectors of the country’s economy, the ‘engine room’ of which lies decidedly in the hands of the private sector, principally on account of the role the private enterprise plays in areas of the agriculture sector – not least rice production – which, ironically, had been, prior to the advent of oil and gas, a critical cog in the wheel of the country’s economy, as a whole.
If the Stabroek Business has not been sluggish in criticizing its inclination to, often, blow its trumpet far too loudly, this newspaper is not indifferent to the role that the Ministry and the sector, as a whole, have played in the growth of the country’s economy and in the protection of its food security bona fides. We have, however, sought to point out instances in which it has been far too persistent in the blowing of its own trumpet, sometimes to the extent that its initial undertakings have ‘blown up’ in its proverbial face. Here we wish to site, without fear of credible contradiction, pronouncements made by the Ministry of Agriculture with regard to undertakings in respect of the completion and bringing into meaningful service of Agro Processing facilities that have been established across the country and which, in some instances, are still not fully functional as well as undertakings given with regard to the enhancement of the Guyana Marketing Corporation in terms of its contribution to the growth of the small business sector, notably the Agro Processing sector which remain manifestly unfulfilled.
If the Stabroek Business would hardly refute the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture has one of the more demanding agendas amongst the state agencies, it wishes to caution that there are particular dangers that arise out of attempts at window-dressing which, at the end of the day, runs the risk of falling flat on its face. There are challenges that lie ahead for the sector, one of which is the challenge of reconciling from the sector in the various regions to adequately respond to the raw material needs of the various Agro Processing Facilities. Here, our overarching concern has to do with the tendency of state agencies to conceal truths associated with the smoothness (or otherwise) with which important state-owned facilities are operating. With regard to the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), there exists manifest that this newspaper has remained consistent in its support in the matter of the genuine efforts that the GMC has made to promote the small business sector through initiatives that have included its Market Days. We believe that the GMC’s Market Days had the effect of creating and/or strengthening links between the agency and the small businesses. Those relationships, over time, metamorphosed into stronger ties including the GMC providing services associated with quality enhancement and product promotion. Indeed, we believe that there was a period during which the GMC’s relationship with Agro Processors, in the promotion of their Farmers Markets, marked one of the highest points in the recent history of the entity.
It is the considered view of the Stabroek Business that the extent of the quality/service afforded the business community has been in decline. We also believe that the contribution that it makes to the external promotion of agro produce and that in this regard it is rarely seen to be functioning in a capacity that goes beyond providing what one might call peripheral services. Here, it has to be said that despite what has been the persistent drumbeat regarding that the role which the GMC plays in the promotion of local produce (particularly Agro Produce) in the regions and beyond, the agency would be hard put to place ‘on the table’ any serious evidence that it is doing so. From the perspective of the Stabroek Business, a suitably mandated and equipped GMC can rise to the giddy heights which the state-owned Jamaican Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has realized in pursuit of its own product promotion pursuits. It can do so if it is suitably staffed and structured and if it is equipped with the tools and the mandate to do so. Meaningless ‘cheerleading’ from the ministerial sidelines of the subject ministry will not ‘cut it.’
The option here is to provide the GMC with a clear mission, a well-trained and energetic team and confidence and encouragement rather than meaningless ‘catcalls’ emanating from inside the Ministry of Agriculture. The more the unfounded claims regarding what the GMC has accomplished and what it continues to accomplish, the more its countrywide credibility will be eroded. It needs to be suitably equipped and incentivized for the purpose which, presumably, it was created to serve.
