Guyana’s food self-sufficiency – lessons for Malaysia

Situated on the north-eastern coast of South America, Guyana borders the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname. The country’s name is derived from an indigenous word meaning “Land of Many Waters”.

Guyana is located on the Guiana Shield, a biodiverse region, with one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. The country is home to over 225 species of mammals, 900 bird species, 880 reptile species and over 6,500 plant species.

Famed for its natural resources, the country recently made significant offshore oil discoveries, fuelling its rapid economic growth.

Tensions escalated over two years ago following a Venezuela referendum proposing to create a state in the disputed region of Essequibo – a move Guyana views as a potential land grab.

Venezuela argues that Essequibo fell within its borders during the Spanish colonial period.

Guyana, however, bases its claim on the 1899 Paris Arbitral Award, which places the territory under its sovereignty.

Essequibo covers over two-thirds of the territory of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of the nation’s 830,000 people.

Despite Muslims being a minority, Mohamed Irfaan Ali was elected President of Guyana in 2020 and re-elected for a second term in September 2025. He is the first Muslim head of state of Guyana in a country where about 64% of the population are Christians, 25% Hindus and 7% Muslims.

This outcome speaks volumes for the maturity of the people, who are discarding racial and religious considerations when electing a leader.

Food self-sufficiency

Disputes aside, Guyana is now in the global spotlight for a different reason. It has achieved full food self-sufficiency across all essential food groups – a feat unmatched worldwide.

This finding emerged from a 2025 Nature Food study analysing 186 countries to assess how well each nation could feed its population from domestic production alone.

Guyana was found to be the only country able to supply all seven key food groups  – fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, legumes, nuts and seeds, and starchy staples – from domestic production.

Policies behind the success

Sound government initiatives have played a decisive role. Investments in rice, livestock, maize and soya and policy support like the removal of value-added tax on farm equipment have helped transform Guyana into a Caribbean breadbasket – a model for food independence despite reliance on imported inputs like fuel.

State financing has supported rice cultivation, livestock and beekeeping. These efforts align with the country’s Vision 2025, which aims to reduce the country’s import bill.

Guyana has emphasised sectoral diversification. Expansion into maize, soya beans and legumes enables farmers to increase their incomes. Youth engagement in farming has boosted growth – an area where Malaysia could draw lessons.

Challenges ahead

Despite its success, Guyana’s agricultural sector still relies on imported diesel, fertilisers, seeds and machinery. This reliance exposes vulnerabilities during global supply disruptions.

Nevertheless, Guyana has shown that strategic investment can create a robust domestic food ecosystem, even in a nation with limited resources.

A stroll down the bustling markets of Georgetown, the capital, reveals this clearly. Stalls brim with locally produced rice, cassava, fresh fish, fruit and other produce, much of it sourced within national borders. Guyana meets its nutritional needs largely from its own soil and waters.

Self-sufficiency without destroying nature

While hundreds of millions worldwide face food insecurity, Guyana stands alone in its ability to feed itself fully. What makes this achievement even more striking is that it has not come at the expense of the environment.

The country’s interior is dominated by the ancient Guiana Shield rainforest. There is little large-scale agriculture in this ecologically priceless region. Remarkably, the country has not destroyed its natural heritage but maximised its limited agricultural land, preserving over 85% of its original forest.

Guyana’s forest conservation while achieving food self-sufficiency stands in stark contrast to other Latin American countries, where deforestation is rampant and land is cleared for farming and cattle ranching.

Nature has also been kind to Guyana. Located between one to nine degrees north of the Equator, the country enjoys year-round warmth, abundant rainfall and high humidity. Another blessing is the fertile clay soil, deposited by the Amazon River system over millennia.

Diversifying cultivation

Traditionally, agriculture is the mainstay of economic activity, even though only about 5% of the country’s land area – the coastal plain – is suitable for crop cultivation.

Much of this land lies below high-tide sea level and has to be protected by a system of dikes and dams originally built by the Dutch using slave labour.

Unlike many countries dominated by monoculture farming, Guyanese farmers practise intercropping, growing two or more crops in the same field. This approach spreads risk and improves resilience during the growing season. If one crop struggles due to weather shocks, pests or market fluctuations, another can still thrive.

Coconut farmers plant pineapples or tomatoes between young trees. Maize and soya beans use the same soil. While soya beans enrich the soil with nitrogen, crops like maize use that nutrient at different times of the year.

Meanwhile, sugar cane and rice have been the most important products since the 19^th Century. Sugar was mainly produced for export while rice fed the locals.

Lessons for Malaysia

Guyana today is known for its farming success due to the ingenuity of its farmers supported by good government policies.

When farmers find the right balance, they can improve soil structure, enhance fertility and manage pest control without major chemical intervention.

Malaysia often focuses on traditional countries for trade, investments and the pursuit of knowledge, not realising that smaller nations can offer us assistance in specific areas. The country should explore the possibility of enhancing ties with a country like Guyana to boost its food sector.

It should also enhance ties with other small countries like Iceland and Estonia to learn from their successes in other relevant areas.

Necessity should always influence our agricultural policies as Malaysia’s food import bill continues to rise.

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