Guyana may not be ranked among the global elite in the agri-processing and agro-processing industries, but the international gatekeepers provide a good reason for unrestrained optimism about the potential of those sectors to make a significant contribution to the growth of the country’s economy.
Stabroek Business has just seen a new research report by Global Market Insights Inc. projecting that the global processed fruit and vegetable market could be raking in more than $ US425 billion by 2026, a projection highlighting a huge increase in consumption over the next five years.
Global Market Insights Inc. attributes this expected growth in global demand for fruits and vegetables to widespread acceptance among the young and geriatric demographic because of what are believed to be the health benefits of processed fruits and vegetables. Apparently, the Global Market Insights projection has already attracted the attention of some of the fruit and vegetable ‘heavyweights’ in Asia, though there has been no Caribbean response, above all Guyana, where even a modest percentage of’ r global earnings from the industry. can make a marked difference to its growth, to say nothing of the growth of the country’s economy. The underdevelopment of technology associated with the growth of the agro-processing industry may be one of the major obstacles for Guyana to capitalize on what is predicted to be a huge growth in demand for processed fruits and vegetables over the next five years. . As the global industry’s demand for processed fruits and vegetables derived from freshly cut produce increases, it is likely that manufacturers are using a number of packaging techniques, as well as edible coatings with Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) to improve fresh shelf life. -cut fruits and vegetables. Nowadays, cellulose and wax coatings on freshly cut fruits and vegetables have become par for the course in the global canned fruit and vegetable sector.
With Global Market Insights predicting that the popularization of shelf-life enhancement techniques will continue to drive market statistics in the coming period, Guyana will need to step the R&D dimension into its agro-processing sector, otherwise , buy in technology from abroad, if it wants to secure what could potentially be a profitable share of the international market.
Meanwhile, farmers with whom the Stabroek Business has spoken have chosen that what remains in the absence of sufficiently strong links between the agricultural and agro-processing sectors continues to slow the latter’s progress. However, they admit that agriculture and agro-processing have benefited from support in areas including training and promotion and marketing of fresh produce and agro-processing ingredients from the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and the Guyana School, which is run by the state. Agriculture (GSA).
With the predominantly Caribbean-driven economies weighed down with a US $ 5 billion food import bill, much of which is spent on catering for tourist tastes, it has been felt since long time that Guyana is missing out on an opportunity to grow its potentially lucrative agro-processing and agro-processing sectors through increased regional market coverage. However, analysis of the local agro-product market, in particular, reveals that over several years successive governments have not done anywhere close enough to create the level of growth in these sectors sufficient to temper surfing national day dreams of prospects and petro-state in the near future.