Guyana/Brazil cooperation
Cassava chips, starch export potential seen
Stabroek News
August 3, 2002
The first phase of the cassava project under a pact between Guyana and Brazil has been completed and has resulted in the opening up of new horizons for the local industry.
Ministry of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, hinterland co-ordinator John Woolford, at a press conference held yesterday said he and his team have benefited tremendously from the training received from the Brazilian team of experts.
He noted that most people in Guyana were familiar with cassava products such as casareep, cassava bread, farine and tapioca - to a lesser extent - and other options are now under consideration. He said throughout the training there was always something new to learn and one product which sparked a lot of interest was cassava chips. Woolford said the cassava project was conceptualised in his unit at the ministry. The idea was formulated with the aim of finding more efficient ways for the indigenous farmers to process cassava.
Another objective was to expand the farmers' operations from merely subsistence farming to a commercially viable enterprise.
There is a real possibility for a lot of cottage industries springing up for cassava products, Woolford said.
"We recognise that many times we speak about potential but an opportunity is presented here for us to grab at," he stated.
Woolford said the Guyana delegation learnt about marketing the cassava for export, vacuum packaging, and time management.
The project on the identification and development of suitable varieties of cassava for food security in Guyana's hinterland is a result of an agreement signed between Guyana and Brazil for technical cooperation.
Two other areas where assistance would be provided to the ministry are in acoushi ants control to facilitate organic farming, and dairy cattle production.
The Guyanese delegation from the ministry was trained in laboratory techniques for cyanide detection in cassava for identification of the most suitable varieties.
They were also trained in cassava processing and marketing.
Under the project, five Guyanese will be visiting Brazil in September to undergo training in organic agriculture and cultivation of cassava crops.
In December, they would be trained in cassava variety collection.
Olivier Vilpoux, a researcher in cassava processing and marketing on the Brazilian team, said Guyana has the potential to export cassava chips. He said this is already a popular product in Brazil and South America. He stated that countries like Thailand are exporting cassava starch and this could also be a good product for Guyana to export. Vilpoux noted that Guyana imported a lot of sago and said that while the cassava product would not be good enough for export it could be a substitute for sago which would save the foreign exchange used to import the product.
Brazil's ambassador to Guyana, Ney do Prado Dieguez, recalled there were fourteen projects earmarked in 1999 but they were still to be implemented in 2000 when he took up his posting in Guyana.
The ambassador said he insisted that instead of looking at the 14 projects in a general manner, efforts should be concentrated on at least one project to get it off the ground.
He stated that the cassava project was a good start to the ongoing technical cooperation and much has already been accomplished a mere three months after the signing of the agreement.
He noted two Guyanese were in Brazil to be trained in dairy production while three Brazilian experts were in Guyana to train in cassava production.
An expert in acoushi ants control has already arrived to conduct training here.
Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, Satyadeow Sawh, said the exchange of ideas in cassava development would have a profound impact on the hinterland communities which he said was a part of government's strategy to empower the people with new techniques to add value to products.
The Amerindian communities would now be moving in this direction, he said, and the knowledge would impact positively on farming there.
The minister stated that Guyana did not have to look northwards for much expertise when it is available in south-south cooperation, with Brazil being a good example of the reservoir of knowledge available. (Andrew Richards)