Guyana is pursuing a bilateral agricultural agreement with the Dominican Republic to develop commercial-scale mango and avocado production, as the South American nation looks to diversify its crop base and build export-ready industries.

The initiative emerged from ministerial talks in Georgetown between Guyana's Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and his Dominican counterpart, Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme. Discussions covered crop diversification, technical capacity and the conditions needed to bring both fruit industries to a commercially viable scale. Separate engagement with former Dominican Republic president Hipólito Mejía, who leads the Presidential Commission for Guyana-Dominican Republic Initiatives, has further advanced plans to establish a large-scale mango industry in Guyana. Mustapha has indicated that foundational implementation is expected to begin by the end of September.

The ambition is considerable. The Dominican Republic's mango industry currently employs around 20,000 people, a scale Guyana is openly hoping to emulate. Dominican mango exports more than doubled between 2020 and 2024, rising from $20 million to $50 million, with the United States and Europe as the primary markets. The country has over 60,700 hectares under mango cultivation across multiple varieties. Guyana's current output bears no comparison to either figure.

Under the mango cultivation project, the Dominican Republic will provide planting material for fifteen high-yielding, disease-free mango varieties, with each variety to be grown on one hectare of land to establish parent stock. Both the mango and avocado projects are expected to begin in July, following the importation of planting materials in June. Dominican agricultural experts will travel to Guyana to work alongside local technical officers and farmers, providing guidance on crop development, capacity building and the systems required for commercial-scale production. The Guyanese government has committed to supplying participating farmers with planting materials, agronomic training and infrastructure support.

Both crops are already cultivated in Guyana, though production has remained small-scale. The partnership is designed to change that, with the government framing it as a rural economic development effort as much as an agricultural one. Mustapha stated that farmers would benefit substantially, and that the government's role is to ensure they are supported in taking up these activities through planting material and capacity-building programmes.

Dominican avocado exports have also grown considerably in recent years, rising from $223.4 million in 2020 to $309.4 million, with demand continuing to outpace supply. That gap may partly inform Guyana's interest in avocado production alongside domestic considerations.

The agreement sits within a broader push by Georgetown to reduce reliance on a narrow agricultural base. Guyana's economy has been reshaped significantly by offshore oil revenues in recent years, but the government has continued to invest in agriculture as a parallel source of rural employment and food security. A functioning commercial fruit industry would give farmers an income stream with regional and potentially international reach, provided production targets are met and export logistics develop alongside them.

Whether Guyana can build the infrastructure and supply chains necessary to approach Dominican output within any near-term horizon remains uncertain. The September timeline for initial mango cultivation is an early marker, but converting parent stock trials into an industry of meaningful scale will require sustained investment well beyond the terms of the current agreement.

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