The Government of Guyana is looking to the Dominican Republic for technical support to significantly expand local mango and avocado production, a move Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha says could open new opportunities for farmers and strengthen the country’s food production capacity.
Speaking recently, Mustapha said discussions with his Dominican Republic counterpart laid the foundation for a broader agricultural partnership, with crop development emerging as a key area of cooperation.
“There are a number of other areas that Guyanese can and will be benefiting from,” the minister said.
Among the priorities identified are mangoes and avocados, two crops that officials believe can be cultivated on a much larger scale in Guyana.
Mustapha pointed to the Dominican Republic’s success in mango production, noting that approximately 20,000 people are employed in the sector there.
“The Dominican Republic today [has] around 20,000 persons in mango production,” he said.
The minister believes Guyana has the potential to replicate similar success if farmers are provided with the necessary technical support, planting materials and market opportunities.
Avocado production was also identified as an area with substantial room for growth. While the crop is already grown locally, production remains relatively small-scale compared with regional producers.
To support the initiative, the Dominican Republic has agreed to send two or three agricultural experts to Guyana to work directly with farmers. According to Mustapha, those with available land will receive planting material and technical assistance aimed at expanding cultivation and improving yields.
“Guyanese farmers will be benefiting tremendously,” he said.
The minister expressed optimism that the collaboration could be operational before the end of September.
The initiative comes as Guyana continues to pursue greater agricultural diversification and food security, goals that have featured prominently in national development discussions for decades.
Efforts to transform Guyana into a major agricultural producer date back to the 1970s, when the Forbes Burnham-led People’s National Congress (PNC) government launched the “Feed, Clothe and House the Nation” programme. The policy sought to achieve greater self-sufficiency, strengthen food security, reduce dependence on imports and position Guyana as the breadbasket of the Caribbean through expanded agricultural production and agro-industrial development.
The initiative faced sustained political opposition, including campaigns by the then opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which criticised many aspects of the programme. Advocates contend that had the policy been allowed to mature and receive bipartisan support, Guyana could have been far closer to realising its ambition of becoming the breadbasket of the Caribbean.
Today, with Guyana enjoying unprecedented financial resources from oil revenues, the government has renewed its emphasis on agriculture, food production and regional food security. Several of the policies now being advanced—including expanded cultivation, infrastructure development, agro-processing and reducing food imports—echo objectives that were central to the country’s earlier self-sufficiency drive.
Against that backdrop, the proposed partnership with the Dominican Republic represents another step in Guyana’s effort to expand agricultural production and create new opportunities beyond the oil sector, while seeking to strengthen the country’s capacity to feed itself and the wider Caribbean region.
