The Governments of Guyana and Cuba recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the expansion of the local honey industry. During the opening ceremony of the Agri-Investment Forum 2023 last Friday, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali said Guyana is targetting the production of black mangrove honey and citrus honey.
The Head of State said, “…We are working with Cuba on the development of the honey industry… They will be working with our indigenous communities, with our communities where we have mangroves, with our communities on the highway.
“They’ll be working with our communities in Canal No. 1, Region 10, Region Six so that we can become a major producer of honey…”
The president was keen to highlight that black mangrove honey carries a different price from citrus honey.
For those who many not be aware, black mangrove honey is a premium honey which contains a very high percentage of black mangrove nectar and small quantities of other local tropical trees that bloom at the same time and are selected by the bees for their complementary vitamin and minerals. The resulting honey is rich, dark, and strong flavored.
As for citrus honey, this is often made from various citrus nectars, like lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and more.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the MoU seeks to establish a general framework of collaboration between the Ministries of Agriculture in Cuba and Guyana with an emphasis on agriculture and vegetable products, livestock and animal products, beekeeping, forestry, and other areas.
The MoU was signed by Director General of the Ministry, Madanlall Ramraj, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Delma Nedd, and Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Jorge Francisco Soberón Luis at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, on Saturday morning.
Ramraj highlighted that Guyana has several hectares of land that are largely undeveloped for beekeeping, which offers enormous potential for the growth of the apiculture sector.
This will enable Guyana to reduce its food import bill by 25 percent by 2025, an initiative all CARICOM member states are pursuing.
