Chasing a dream
― future agro-processor tests the market
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Twenty-one-year-old Kelshine Griffith was lucky enough to be a part of a 2015 crash course in Agro-Processing at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA). It was during this programme that she had an “eye opener”. It struck her that this field would allow her to be her own boss.
Now four years later, she has produced her very own product, as a part of her course work at the Guyana School of Agriculture. “I always knew I wanted to be my own boss and in 2015 after I did the crash course with Youth Empowerment at the GSA, I learnt how you can add value to your items and make money right in your own home. From then on, I knew the kind of business I would be involved in. Now I’m at GSA to get certified and I’m working on opening my own business when I’m finished here,” Griffith told the Department of Public Information (DPI).
She was one of many other students who showcased products that they have been meticulously working on; at the school’s annual agro-processing exposition held on March 18. The show organised by the institution’s agro-processing department also doubles as a form of assessment for the students.
Another innovative product to grace the expo was the hair cream presented by the group called ‘Little Co’. This enterprising group prided themselves in their flagship items of hair cream and hair oil.
“For our final product, we made a hair cream and hair oil, the ingredients used are virgin coconut oil, peppermint oil, and aloe vera… we used fermented sugar as a thickener… we took the coconut oil, and the other ingredients, boiled them together, and then separated them with a thin cloth, and to make the hair cream, we add the fermented sugar and blend it together” team leader Henry George explained. You can get your own hair cream or oil for $660 and $440 respectively.
Lastly, another ground-breaking, first-time product for GSA was a coconut-based soap, presented by Culture Styles. “We have three types of soap, we have our coconut soap made from coconut oil, the neem soap, this is specifically for women and the turmeric soap. Notably, our soaps have a coconut oil base,” team member Clifton Hiles said.
Additionally, GSA students are encouraged to move to commercialised production. It is an opportunity for those who are undertaking the agro-processing course, to create a product line that they can later mass produce and sell on the local market, as Kelshine Griffith hopes to do, upon completion of their course.
Items produced by GSA can be found at leading supermarkets across the country, and are 100 per cent local, made at the school’s Agro-processing facility.
Nikosi Bruce.
Images: Ameer Sattaur.