SRC Upskilling Community Enterprises Through Agro-Processing Training

The Scientific Research Council (SRC) has been creating new economic opportunities for Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) through free agro-processing training.

This initiative aligns with the SRC’s vision to leverage scientific expertise and knowledge, to drive positive change and achieve long-term development, ultimately improving the well-being of all Jamaicans.

Community Development Coordinator at the SRC, Yanique Rodgers tells JIS News that the training helps to create products at a commercial standard.

“We work with existing community groups to give them technical training in agro-processing for their…development business enterprises. So, we will train them in making natural juices, sauces, jams and jellies, bar soap. Those are the main areas we offer training in,” she says.

“This type of training will help them to produce products that are at commercial standard, so that they are more likely to be prepared at least to go into the larger market and perhaps even to export eventually,” she adds.

The Jamaica Baptist Union Women’s Federation Portland Chapter received training in making natural juices, during a session held in March 2023 at the resource centre in the Parish.

Secretary of the organisation, Veron Phillips, tells JIS News that the sessions were enjoyable and engaging.

“It was about 12 of us there and everybody pitched in peeling the mango, washing the mango, sanitizing the place, doing all the things we do before we start preparing,” she states.

Ms. Rodgers informs that the group was trained to make mango squash.

“A squash is a concentrated type of natural juice then you would add water. They have since gone on to make mango squash on their own and from there we are looking to give them some guided training as it relates to product costing, and to also look toward, formalizing some of their processes in terms of business development and business management,” Ms. Rodgers adds.

The participants were taught how to calculate yield for the amount of drink they wish to make, which they found beneficial.

They were also trained to calculate how much raw material is to be used to yield the desired amount of product.

“Because you have to peel mangoes, remove the skin, remove the seed, it is not quite so easy to determine what quantity of mangoes you’re going to start out with in order to come down to the amount of flesh that you need to make the desired quantity of juice. That is one of the things they spoke about in the sense that they can know how many mangoes to pick, what weight of mangoes they need to start out with in order to get to the amount of juice that they want or squash that they want,” Ms. Rodgers explains.

Training programmes for successful applicants are also tailored to the specific needs of the group.

In the meantime, product consistency is the main challenge being observed in the community groups and this lack of standardization makes pricing products to make a profit difficult.

“What happens is that the product quality may not be consistent, and it also makes it more difficult to cost the product appropriately or accurately and so it`s probably difficult to track profit or to even make a profit,” Ms. Rodgers states.

“Product consistency is not just for the customer in terms of the customer getting the same products all the time, but product consistency also helps in costing…which is going to help also in you making a profit consistently,” she adds.

She underscores that one of the main outputs of the training is to help groups to develop consistent products, and moving forward, the SRC will aim to facilitate business development support.

“Many times, the groups they are already working on the technical side. They may have received training from another organization or from us…but they do need some guidance as it relates to the business aspect of general things, such as how to cost the products in order to make a profit, record keeping and what it is that you need to have in order to secure grant funding,” Ms. Rodgers states.

Community groups interested in the training programme may call (876) 927-1771 for more information.

The sign-up link is also available @srcjamaica on social media platforms.

The SRC is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport.