Agriculture, Pastures, Nutrition & Oil in Guyana
Guyana is the third smallest country in South America, after Surinam and Uruguay, with almost 215.000 square kilometers of national territory, which is somewhat smaller than Idaho. Located along the northern coastline of the southern continent, Guyana finds itself east of Venezuela and north of Brazil. Geographically, Guyana has some 460 kilometers of coastline, while forested highlands and savannas dominate its inland territory. Similarly, Guyana has a total population of merely 736.000 citizens, of which approximately 124.000 live in the capital city of Georgetown. However, the majority of the Guyanese population, over 70%, lives in a rural setting as opposed to an urban one. Currently, Guyana’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is of merely US$5 billion. Nevertheless, its national economy has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 3.0% in recent years. Furthermore, throughout the last year, giant multinational oil companies have found petroleum reserves within Guyanese maritime territory estimated to contain some 1 billion barrels of crude valued at more than US$40 billion.
The Guyanese national economy is divided into 21% agriculture, 33% manufacturing, and 46% services. Yet, the agriculture industry only utilizes about 9% of the national territory, while another 77% is forested. In terms of natural resources, Guyana has petroleum, bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, and fish. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on mining & mineral processing, sugar processing, rice milling, lumber, and textiles. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products sugarcane, rice, edible oils, beef, pork, poultry, and seafood. In terms of trade, Guyana’s main trade partners are the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, China, and Surinam, amongst others. Similarly, Guyana is a member of economic and political cooperation organisms, including the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). This article explores the status of grain production and nutrition in Guyana.
Agriculture, Pastures, Nutrition & Oil in Guyana
In Guyana, unfortunately, about 100.000 people suffer from undernourishment. Likewise, in recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin in the country has been of 33 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers represent about half of the food energy intake in Guyana. Simultaneously, the land distribution within the country has evolved throughout the last half century. In 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in Guyana covered less than 1 million hectares, while arable land totaled some 350.000 hectares, and permanent crops accounted for 10.000 hectares. By 2014, permanent pastures and meadows in the country accounted for more than 1.2 million hectares, while arable land represented about 420.000 million hectares, and permanent crops accounted for some 30.000 hectares.
Finally, the domestic cereals market in Guyana has transformed substantially throughout the last several decades. In 1961, the country devoted almost 108.000 hectares of land to the production of cereals and produced well over 216.000 metric tons annually. Meanwhile, in 2014, Guyana devoted more than 188.000 hectares of land to cereals production and yielded almost 1 million metric tons.