– with Nathelyn Benn-Dequoy and her band of women agro-processors

IT might be a small community, isolated somewhat from urbanisation, but that does not mean that residents should just sit back and seek handouts when there are opportunities to empower themselves right at hand-reach.

Nathelyn Benn-Dequoy is the pioneer of agro-processing in Kwakwani and the strides she has made since commencing three years ago have encouraged other women to do the same.

Realising that communal entrepreneurship is more beneficial to the development of the entire community, Dequoy did not selfishly keep her skill to herself, but opted to share it with others, making it a women’s empowerment movement.

Dequoy processes fresh ‘seasoning’ and pepper and bottles them and today, her products are in more demand than she can supply.

‘Nathelyn Green Seasoning and Peppers’ are carefully and uniquely prepared by hand to keep every housewife wanting more. She manually processes onions, garlic, various green, leafy herbs such as thyme, eschalot and celery with a dash of pepper, ginger, salt and already packaged powered seasonings to make her one-of-a kind ‘Made in Kwakwani’ bottled green seasoning.

She started on a very small scale, so as to get a feel of the market and how residents would react to it, but today her products are sometimes sold out the very day they are brought to the stall.

She makes five gallons of ‘seasoning’ within days, as a large quantity is also pre-ordered. While similar bottled ‘seasoning’ can be found in grocery shops, Dequoy said that residents love her ingredients and the high quality of her product. She said that because it is in such high demand, she’s invited other women to commence agro-processing to keep the market going, and moreso to attract customers in neighbouring communities and soon, export to other regions.

“It was always my heart’s desire to see this movement in my community, and I have encouraged and taught other women to do the same business, because when I am not around, other women can be able to fill in and keep the customers supplied,” Dequoy said.

One of the women she taught and who now processes her own bottled ‘seasoning’ and peppers is Lavern Padmori.

She started agro-processing two years ago and has since seen her business grow and expand. She said that it is a good thing Dequoy started and believed that if others pick up on it, it will benefit the community.

She is, however, worried about it remaining small-scale since after two years, no strides have been made in terms of better packaging and branding.

She primarily uses recycled and sterilised Eldorado Rum bottles and other plastic bottles to package her stuff, but she is well aware that much more needs to be done to venture into other markets. However,she believes that once the women in the community continue to be determined, they can get there one day.

In the meantime, she is calling on institutions that specialise in financing small businesses and the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to visit Kwakwani and hold consultations with agro-processors on the way forward.

TRYING OTHER THINGS

Meanwhile, after realising that agro-processing has so many benefits, Dequoy has commenced making local fruits by utilising all of the fruits in the community that are wasted.

“Kwakwani is a place you rarely find certain fruits selling, like five finger, and so they are wasting,” she said. “But I decided to take those very same fruits and process them. Today, I send over 400 pounds of local fruits to New Amsterdam to sell; I send to Canje, East Coast and neighbouring villages, such as Aroaima.”

She, like Padmori, will continue to perfect her art, so that it will be the first product to be branded ‘Made in Kwakwani.’ Dequoy believes that this agro-processing venture can also be the answer to social ills in the community such as teenage pregnancy, dropping out of school and unemployment. As such, she is calling on the relevant authorities to initiate some form of training in the community, where young girls can learn similar skills in agro-processing which will enable them to empower themselves.