…says households will feel the bite of unemploymentNational earnings in Guyana’s agriculture sector have steadily declined by billions annually in recent years, despite an expanding global market for food and other such commodities but remedying this anomaly will require a coordinated effort on both the public and Private Sectors.The critical observation was made by President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Deodat Indar, who on Friday lambasted Government’s mis-management of the nation’s agricultural industries, saying the “current trend in Guyana serves to illustrate a demise of the industry’s contribution as the economy undergoes some structural change, especially due to the downsizing of the industry such a sugar.”Indar was at the time addressing the opening ceremony of the Annual Berbice Expo held at the Albion Sports Complex.The economy, he said, is heavily reliant upon the performance on the agricultural sector and lamented that over the past decade, agriculture has moved from contributing a quarter (24 per cent) of the national earnings into but this has since slipped to 17 per cent last year.The 13th Berbice Expo and Trade Fair was opened on Friday night at the Albion Sports Complex. The four-day event, which ends on Monday, has more than 100 exhibits“As the industry’s contribution to the overall [Gross Domestic Product] GDP declines similarly you will also see decline in employment and this markedly reduces strength and resilience of the local economy… If we don’t produced our food locally, it means we have to do without it, or import it, which an importer will need mostly US currency to do so and when happens we are at the mercy world market prices,” he said.The GCCI President used the occasion to highlight that sugar’s contribution to the overall earnings for the country has moved from 16.2 per cent in 1997, to seven per cent 2007.The industry, he said, is currently responsible for contributing to a mere one per cent of the annual national earnings.“This underpins the drastic decline of a key sector which not only provides high levels of employment for your region but is a key foreign exchange earner that acts as a tool to stabilised price inflation… Households will feel the bite of unemployment, displacement due to lack of income and depressed economy in the region.”He opined that in the sugar industry has decline for many reasons, including workers strikes which accounted for 42,500 lost man hours in year 2014, resulting from the 198 different strike occurrences.The Sugar Corporation has, at the time of the Commission of Inquiry into its operations, 16,464 employees and “with the impending closure, a lion’s share of those workers will be on the breadline without space in alternative sectors to mop up the unemployment arising out of GuySuCo.”The annual affair venued in the Ancient County was organised by the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry.He noted to that the rice sector which is another key sector in agriculture contributed 10.4 per cent of GDP in 1997. By 2007, this had slipped to 5.4 per cent and further decline to four per cent 2016.According to the GCCI President, “As it relates to rice in Berbice fall in employment can lead to rise in social ills such as suicide, alcoholism and abuse.”He did note tell those in attendance that “while rice contribution relative to GDP has fallen it has experienced real continuous growth over the years on the export side of the sector.”Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, during brief remarks reminded Berbicians that Government has not forgotten them.The Minister recalled that earlier this year, the Government has allocated over $500 million towards the development of the region, which is more than what was budgeted for all other regions.Minister Gaskin said agriculture has always been, and will continue to be, a key industry and the driver of economic growth in Guyana. read more