Lethem may soon see the production of genip jelly if an idea by one of its youths catches on and finds support.
The genip jelly was created by Charlotte McDonald, of St Ignatius, who was among 36 youths from around the country who left their homes to participate in a four-day agro-processing training course at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA).
The course was organised by the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Youth Empowerment (OPAYE) in collaboration with the GSA and saw participation from youths from all of the regions, with the exception of regions One, Seven and Eight.
At the closing ceremony for the course yesterday at the GSA, where the participants were presented with certificates, McDonald told Stabroek News that she and her group worked on the idea together and were pleased that the jelly came out perfectly.
At a mini exhibition, the genip jelly was bottled and fitted with labels for display, as was a lime concentrate, carambola juice concentrate and golden apple barbecue sauce that the other participants had created, with the help of instructors.
The instructors also taught them to preserve other fruits and how to prepare and bottle green seasoning and pepper sauce and the methods of pickling pork.
McDonald was very eager to return home to share her skills with a youth group that she is involved with and to start making use of the genip that they have in abundance when it is in season.
According to her, the genip is “wasted” because they did not know what to do with it. She said they would also start a venture with their new product and have to work on securing a market.
Alana Phillips, of Jacklow, Pomeroon, was also part of the course and her group came up with the idea of creating the carambola concentrate. She said the fruit is also plentiful in her area but “no one is buying it.”
She definitely plans to take back the idea to her local group, Jacklow United Youth Organisation, so they too can pursue a venture.
According to her, they would establish a processing plant and would present a project proposal to the government for funding. She had also attended a leadership programme at Madewini, where she was taught management skills.
In delivering the charge to the participants, General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board Nizam Hassan urged them to focus on what business they want to start and to be innovative in finding markets. He reminded them that they attended the training course because they need to “make money” and to grow and therefore they should do a lot of research to fit into the competitive market.
He also encouraged them to go visit the municipal markets and observe in order to understand consumers. He said they should “think like the consumers when you are developing a product. You are a consumer too….”
Hassan also advised them to look at proper packaging and labels in order to make the products look attractive.
Principal of the GSA Dindyal Permaul told youths that the four days of training and the mini exhibition demonstrates their ability to utilise their skills.
Kirk Saul, of the OPAYE, lauded the young people for being able to enhance their skills in the processing of fruits, vegetables and meat.
He said the OPAYE has recognised that “for young people to be empowered they need the requisite training” in order to acquire the skills to start their own businesses.
He noted that a large amount of fruits and vegetables are being wasted in some of the regions in Guyana and they decided to use the method of agro-processing to stop the wastage.
“We at the Presidential Advisor Unit recognise that our young people must be trained. We have also developed a Small Business and Financial Literacy Programme so participant from this course will be exposed to [more] training…,” he said, while adding that it would enable them to be “better equipped for when they venture out into the world of work or into their own businesses” to manage their finances.
