Guyana has become the leading member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in food production, mainly because of its consistently high output levels in the region.
These targets were set to advance CARICOM’s goal of reducing the region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.
Although the overall target has not yet been met in nominal terms, the emphasis on improving agricultural production across the region has yielded tangible results.
This was highlighted in a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture’s CARICOM Advisor on Agri-Food systems Dr Richard Blair earlier this week.
“The extension of the CARICOM’s 25 per cent by 2025 initiative to 2030 reflects a strategic shift towards achieving concrete production targets rather than relying on reductions in the nominal food import bill,” the advisor explained.
Between 2022 and 2024, the region recorded an overall growth of 23.1 per cent in food production.
| YEAR | TOTAL OVERALL TARGET (2025) (MT) | ANNUAL PRODUCTION (MT) | ACHIEVEMENT RATE (%) |
| 2022 | 3,347,490 | 1,919,188 | 57 |
| 2023 | 2,972,267 | 2,090,461 | 70 |
| 2024 | 2,887,089 | 2,362,321 | 82 |
CARICOM Member Countries’ Annual Achievement Rates against 2025 Target (extracted from the ministry’s release)
Dr Blair stated that tangible progress has been achieved in food production, private sector investment, and agricultural infrastructure in support of the initiative.
Guyana’s growth is a result of billions of dollars of investment poured into the local agricultural sector.
Using the same time frame, Guyana experienced an overall production growth rate of a whopping 40.2 per cent, nearly doubling the regional average.
| YEAR | TOTAL OVERALL TARGET (2025) (MT) | ANNUAL PRODUCTION (MT) | ACHIEVEMENT RATE (%) |
| 2022 | 1,594,582 | 898,847 | 56 |
| 2023 | 1,358,329 | 1,115,707 | 82 |
| 2024 | 1,425,940 | 1,260,020 | 88 |
Guyana’s Annual Achievement Rates against 2025 Target (extracted from the ministry’s release)
“Guyana’s performance was nothing short of exceptional, exceeding the region’s average achievement rates. That’s despite consistently having the highest targets and output levels in the region,” the ministry’s advisor pointed out.
These achievements, he said, stem from deliberate policy and significant investments between 2024 and 2025.
Blair explained that “These outcomes did not occur by chance, but were primarily driven by robust supply-side interventions, underpinned by a comprehensive strategy [to improve] infrastructure, technology, and policy reform.”
Key contributors to Guyana’s strong performance include the rapid growth in rice, brackish water shrimp (which saw an increase of more than 1000 per cent), corn, soya, and prawns, among other strategic areas.
