Women in several Rupununi villages could soon benefit from a project to produce peanut butter, another initiative to add value to agricultural production.
Women's group, Helping Hands in St. Ignatius, a village not far from Lethem and another group at Bena Hill are now making and packaging peanut butter.
Beacon Foundation, through funding by the University of Georgia and Florida, sponsored a research project to increase peanut consumption and it was thought peanut butter manufacturing would be a viable option.
In the Rupununi women already weave hammocks and make crafts, and a cashew nut factory sends its produce for sale in Georgetown.
It is hoped that the peanut butter will be bought locally before consideration is given to coastal markets. There are around 40 villages in the Rupununi and if each village makes peanut butter this will create employment for at least four persons in every village. Fifty pounds of peanuts can be produced per working day.
In addition, there is also a plan to sell the peanut butter to the hinterland feeding programme in regional schools.
Peanut manufacturing equipment is now available for sale by Beacon to entrepreneurs in the Rupununi. The machine used to shell the peanuts costs $50,000, another to grind them costs $70,000, and for now a farine pan is used to roast the peanuts. However, a barrel type roaster for $45,000 is expected to be on sale soon.
Project personnel will be visiting villages to demonstrate how the machines work. Technical assistance will be given to those entrepreneurs who want to get into production.
As further incentives to peanut growers, Jerry LaGra, volunteer co-ordinator of Beacon's peanut project explained that the project plans to send entrepreneurs for one or two weeks of training in the US.
Successfully branching off to value-added production is key to sustainable prices since raw, imported peanuts strongly compete against peanuts from the Rupununi.
With the assistance of the Beacon Foundation, peanut production has increased from half a million pounds to close to a million pounds in 2003. In 2004, it is possible that production will go over a million pounds. In part, these increases came as a result of improved peanut varieties.
LaGra believes that around 700 acres of peanut are under cultivation in the Rupununi with the average farmer having one acre.
Stabroek Business understands that there are around 500 farmers, up from only 200 last year.
In 2003, peanuts were being sold for between $70-$80 per pound within the Rupununi and $100 to 110 per pound outside the area. Now peanuts are being sold for $50 to $60 per pound.
To make savannah agriculture viable, LaGra believes that businesses will need credit but there must also be a ready market.
Guyana can take advantage of the Caribbean market but must first produce a quality product which is certified locally by the Food and Drug Department. In addition, this will require a greater investment by entrepreneurs in the industry since bonds and sanitary controls will be necessary.