Dear Editor,
On November 16th I came across a photo posted on social media by the Minister of Local Govt. It showed the minister amongst a group of scantily—clad kids, I dismissed it as the usual political optics, then a mored focused look revealed two “stark realities” one was the insensitivity of the minister and secondly their physical appearance of the kids revealed signs of malnourishment and under—development. My immediate question was “Are we this impoverished in the fastest growing economy ?”
Editor, Guyana is being held up as a model of rapid transformation: record GDP growth, gleaming new roads, bridges and hospitals, and a constant refrain from leaders that the country is on the cusp of “world‑class” development. Yet behind the billboards and ribbon‑cuttings, a quieter and more dangerous reality is taking shape in kitchens and lunch pots across the country. Wages for ordinary workers remain low at USD25-35, inflation is eroding every dollar, and the cost of basic protein foods has climbed to USD2.50 for chicken, over USD3.50 for pork, to a point where many families now routinely compromise on the very nutrients that sustain life and health.
This is the essence of protein poverty: people may find enough calories, but they cannot afford enough protein.
In a nation that now earns millions of U.S. dollars per day from oil alone, alongside income from gold, bauxite, timber and other resources, the existence of protein poverty is not just an economic failure; it is a national moral scandal. Government speaks proudly of building more hospitals, but hospitals are monuments to problems that were not prevented. Reactive healthcare spends money at the end of the pipeline, when disease has already taken root.
Proactive healthcare means investing in the conditions that keep people healthy in the first place, and nothing is more fundamental than secure access to affordable, protein‑rich food for every child, worker and elder.
The good news is that Guyana does not need to invent solutions from scratch. Around the world, especially in small and vulnerable states, several policy tools have been proven to reduce protein‑energy malnutrition and improve diets. Well‑designed cash transfer programmes to low‑income households, channelled through caregivers and paired with basic nutrition support, consistently increase purchases of protein‑rich foods and improve children’s growth.
Powerful school feeding programmes that guarantee one decent, protein‑adequate meal per day have repeatedly been shown to protect children from undernutrition, keep them in school, and enhance concentration and learning outcomes. These are not experiments; they are evidence‑based investments that translate public money directly into human wellbeing.
On top of this, targeted price and market measures can blunt the impact of food inflation on the poor.
Carefully structured subsidies or tax relief on key protein sources such as chicken, eggs, beans and fish – focused on low‑income households through vouchers or electronic transfers – cost far less than the long‑term burden of treating diet‑related disease. Public procurement rules can require schools, hospitals and state institutions to buy from local poultry farmers, fishers and legume producers, stabilising demand, supporting rural livelihoods and nudging prices down. Nutrition‑sensitive agriculture and fisheries policies can explicitly link support for producers to the goal of feeding Guyanese people first with affordable, nutritious foods.
Guyana now faces a stark choice. One path pours oil revenues into concrete and steel, adding more beds to hospitals that will increasingly be filled by citizens weakened by years of quiet protein deprivation. The other path reserves a meaningful share of every oil dollar for preventative nutrition: targeted income support, universal school meals with adequate protein, and deliberate market interventions to keep protein within reach of every household. One path creates the illusion of progress while entrenching a new cycle of diet‑related disease and disability. The other turns natural resource wealth into human capital – stronger children, healthier adults, and elders who age with dignity rather than in hospital corridors.
This missive is a call to conscience and to courage. Policymakers must be pressed, relentlessly and publicly, to explain why an oil‑rich state can find billions for highways but not a fraction of that to guarantee that no child goes to bed protein‑hungry. Civil society, trade unions, medical professionals, faith leaders and ordinary citizens must insist that budgets, not speeches, reveal true priorities. Guyana does not need more slogans about “world‑class infrastructure.” It needs a national commitment that, before the next hospital is commissioned, the State will fund and implement a serious package of nutrition‑focused social protection, school feeding and food system reforms. Oil wealth without protein on the plate is not development; it is a betrayal
Sincerely,
Hemdutt Kumar.
