Guyana’s Hemp Illusion: Policy Without Production

BY: Hem Kumar                               

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣

In August 2022, Guyana’s National Assembly passed the Industrial Hemp Act, clearing the legal pathway for what was touted as a transformative new industry. Nearly four years later, that “industry” exists nowhere but in speeches, interviews, and policy documents.

𝑵𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑵𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚.

What exists instead is a carefully constructed illusion of progress.
The Government has identified more than 50,000 acres of land for hemp cultivation. Regions Six and Ten have been singled out. International partners, including India, have reportedly expressed interest. The Cabinet has even approved members of the Guyana Industrial Hemp Regulatory Authority.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅.

This is not a minor administrative delay—it is a fundamental breakdown. By law, no one can cultivate, process, research, or engage in any hemp-related activity without a licence issued by that very Authority. In other words, the entire industry is legally frozen until the Government activates the body it already approved.

At the same time, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha now argues that cultivation cannot begin without a processing plant. On its face, this is a reasonable technical point. Hemp is not a crop you can simply harvest and stockpile; without processing, it has little commercial value.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚.

If processing is a prerequisite, why—four years after legalisation—has no facility been established? Why was land identified before processing capacity secured? Why were investors encouraged before the regulatory and industrial backbone was in place?
The uncomfortable truth is that Guyana is attempting to build an industry backwards.

The Government has created a circular dependency of its own making: no cultivation without processing, and no processing without cultivation. The result is predictable stagnation, disguised as careful planning.

Meanwhile, the numbers being used to promote hemp demand closer examination. The public is told that hemp can produce “100,000 to 150,000” different products. While technically true in a broad, global sense, this figure is meaningless without a defined national strategy. Successful hemp industries do not chase everything—they specialise. Textiles, construction materials, seed oils, pharmaceuticals—each requires different infrastructure, expertise, and markets.

𝑮𝒖𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆.

Instead, the narrative leans heavily on scale—50,000 acres, billions in global value—without addressing the mechanics of participation. Where are the certified low-THC seeds? Where are the testing labs to enforce the 0.3 per cent THC limit mandated by law? How will farmers navigate a licensing system that does not yet function? What financing structures exist for small and medium-scale producers expected to occupy these lands?

Even the legal framework, while necessary, underscores the dysfunction. Farmers face fines of $500,000 or imprisonment for operating without a licence, yet no licensing authority is operational to issue those permissions. Compliance is being demanded in a system that does not yet exist.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆.

And while the Government points to international partnerships—particularly with India—as evidence of progress, these arrangements raise their own concerns. Without clear local content rules and ownership structures, Guyana risks repeating a familiar pattern: foreign capital builds the industry, foreign expertise controls it, and Guyanese stakeholders are left at the margins.

The irony is that the Government itself has acknowledged the correct approach. President Irfaan Ali has emphasized that hemp must be tied to value-added production and processing. That is precisely right.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.

Four years on, there is still no processing plant. No operational authority. No clear production timeline. No defined market focus.
What remains is a cycle of announcements—“very shortly,” “in discussions,” “working with partners”—that substitutes language for action.

𝑮𝒖𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

Until the regulatory authority is established, the processing facility is built, and a coherent production strategy is made public, the hemp sector will remain exactly what it is today: a paper industry, sustained by optimism and stalled by inaction.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚.

Because each unfulfilled promise erodes public trust, weakens investor confidence, and reinforces a growing perception that in Guyana, policy ambition too often outruns the capacity—or willingness—to deliver.

𝑯𝒆𝒎𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒓.
𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣-𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 , 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙄𝙣 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨.— ✦—