Brazil has pledged support for the development of Guyana’s dairy industry as the Government, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and Brazilian partners explore new private sector partnerships aimed at boosting milk production and value-added processing.
Talks advanced on Tuesday during a meeting at the World Trade Centre, Georgetown, which brought together World Trade Centre Georgetown Executive Director Wesley Kirton, Brazil’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Cleber Soares, and IICA Director General Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim.
Soares said the discussions focused on strengthening collaboration between private sector actors in both countries, particularly around Guyana’s expanding dairy investments, including a major project by Demerara Distillers Limited.
He said Brazil’s agriculture and livestock sector is prepared to deepen its engagement through technical expertise, improved livestock genetics and pasture development to help raise productivity in Guyana’s dairy industry.
“The Brazilian agriculture and livestock sector is ready to improve our partnership with the private sector in Guyana using the World Trade Centre ability and capacity to enhance and to power agriculture here in Guyana,” Soares said.
He added that Brazil’s high-performing dairy and beef cattle breeds, along with research support from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), could help improve milk yields under local conditions.
“Today we discussed with the World Trade Centre how we can put the Brazilian team together, especially from the Brazilian R&D company that we call EMBRAPA, in contact with the people from the World Trade Centre and the World Trade Centre will select some farmers from the private sector to connect from our team to improve the partnership,” he explained.
Dr. Ibrahim said IICA is also working with stakeholders in the dairy sector to develop a sustainable production model supported by science, technology and innovation.
He noted that the institute, which operates across 34 countries, can provide technical cooperation and knowledge-sharing to help improve milk productivity and support the development of value-added dairy products in Guyana.
Brazil’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Cleber Soares
