- Guyana produces 100 million coconuts per year
-  exports nearly US$3M in coconut products
THE Ministry of Agriculture will be establishing a national oversight committee, with members from the private and public sectors, for the local coconut industry.

Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy (centre) with Ida Sealy Adams from the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Ali Baksh

Various stakeholders who participated in the conference yesterday (Sonell Nelson photos)

GOTTEN BETTER
“The Government’s role has been evolving and its facilitator role has progressively gotten better but it is not perfect in the industry. We do have much to address, to either give some indication and signal part of the problem, globally and internationally,” he asserted.
The minister related that, presently, there are more than 12 million hectares of land under coconut cultivation throughout the world, with a production level exceeding 65 million tonnes per year.
He declared that the marketing prospects for coconut and its products have never been better than today, in Guyana, the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
Ramsammy stated that, after rice and sugar, the largest acreage under cultivation in the country is coconut.
“Indeed, this year, just over 80,000 hectares of land will be devoted to rice. Just over 36,000 hectares will be devoted to sugar and approximately 24,000 hectares will be for coconut,” he noted.
He disclosed that Guyana, currently, produces between 90 and 100 million coconuts per year, which approximates to some 70,000 tonnes and the world export market for coconut products is about $6 billion while Guyana exports nearly US$3M in coconut products.
The stakeholders’ conference yesterday was not the first of its kind as there was a previous one in 2009, Ramsammy said, adding: “I am satisfied that, from 2009 to now, some progress has been made but I’m also convinced that we could accelerate progress. It is my diplomatic way of saying that, if we work together, we could accomplish much more.”
The minister admitted that the conference would have reflected on the period 2009 to presently and that there would have been a period of discussion on the kind of progress made thus far.
However, while recognising that they cannot discuss where they want the industry to go without examining the past, he mentioned that the focus would not be on the past.

MORE AGGRESSIVE
“I want to make sure that we make the approach to the future more aggressive. I want to ensure that it is not just growing coconut trees and producing raw materials but to ensure that Guyana is more aggressive in value-added products,” he explained.
Ramsammy said he wishes to signal, to partners in the Caribbean and other countries, that Guyana will be more than willing to collaborate in joint ventures and partnerships for value- added products.
He is aware of the constraints faced by the industry, such as access to financing, infrastructure work and access to labour, noting the last is a major problem in Guyana since the economy has developed to the extent where the people now have diverse options.
He, therefore, stated that they will be focusing on what can be done to make the industry better; for instance, the potentials for mechanisation in the industry, from the preparation of land to the processing of coconuts.
The minister remarked that the fact the industry has survived is because the Private Sector has remained committed and he said he believes there is also commitment from the government.
“The effort that I have outlined is not to have the government and the Public Sector intrude in a largely Private Sector industry, but we must play our role as a facilitator better. We are going to make more robust our efforts as a facilitator but we expect the Private Sector to do what they have done in the past also in a more robust way,” he challenged.

DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAMME
The Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Agriculture is currently focusing on a very aggressive agriculture diversification programme. The coconut industry is an important component of this initiative.
The coconut industry in Guyana has been identified as one of the sectors with a large potential for further development. Coconut already exists in Guyana as one of the key non-traditional crops and its production relies on Guyana’s comparative advantages in terms of land, water and labour. Coconut can be used in food, feed and fuel and delivers a very wide variety of products, including coconut water, coconut oil, coconut milk and dried coconut which are all in demand regionally and internationally.