Supporting Innovative Agribusiness Entrepreneurs in Guyana

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The Guyana Innovation Prize Start-up Bootcamp provides farmers with training in the Lean Start-up Method for agribusiness and business development, helping them develop business skills in addition to their high-level farming experiences. A F2F volunteer was requested by the Guyana Economic Development Trust to support the Bootcamp’s instructors alongside staff from the School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SEBI) at the University of Guyana to help participants develop an agri-business plan/model. 

The chosen volunteer was Gaston Tsompo, who holds a BS in Economic and Quantitative Techniques, an MBA, and is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in Business Administration Project Management. He works for a company that works towards increased US trade relations in Africa, and before that worked for an NGO in partnership with stakeholders in Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean where he prepared business plans utilizing Logical Framework tools. 

Gaston met virtually with each of the ten fellows in the Guyana Innovation Prize cohort and provided guidance on the preparation of their business models and commercialization plans, based on their research. At the end of the assignment, nine participants had completed the first draft of their agri-business plans and most of the participants had successfully applied Lean Start-up Methodology changes to improve their business concept and value proposition.


Gaston really enjoyed his assignment: “In Guyana, as elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean, start-up entrepreneurs are the greatest risk for investors and financial service providers and therefore are least likely to receive the early financing needed to succeed in their businesses. This scenario limits the number of entrepreneurs entering the market. Therefore, it is important to increase the success rate of start-ups by mentoring them, and the Guyana Economic Development Trust (GEDT) does just that. I participated in the initial steps, in the incubator program. 

The GEDT has worked one-on-one with startups for two decades, so they recognize that it is vital for entrepreneurs to be trained in business. I think this is what makes the Trust and the Innovation Prize so special. This assignment affected me personally and professionally due to the nature and number of persons involved. Everyone worked to tackle economic growth constraints and boost Guyana’s economic development.”



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