SCORES of rural women involved in agro-processing are now better able to network, sharing vital information on market access and product development to maxamise growth and development of their enterprises.This has been made possible through the Women’s Agro-processors Development Network (WADN), which received 12 laptop computers and printers from the Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development Project (READ).The donation is part of a $12.6 million project designed to help the 11 groups under WADN with packaging of their products; provide computer training to members; computer access and Internet service; and the development of a website to market their goods.
Some $3 million of the $12.6 million projects has been injected into a revolving fund to help the women entrepreneurs to support and expand their businesses.
WADN has also signed an agreement with Sterling Products Limited to assist in distribution of its members’ products; improve market potential of members’ products by providing competitive pricing and matching quality; provide advice with respect to managing their finances; technical assistance on quality management and formulation; and procurement of primary and secondary materials where necessary.
Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary George Jarvis urged the women to put the systems to good use, noting that the Internet opens a door of knowledge, and they should use it to uplift themselves.
He promised to provide more systems to WADN as the need arises.
Eleven of the computers will go towards the women groups, while the others will be used by the women’s agro-processors body.
Empowerment
The beneficiaries thanked WADN and the READ Project for investing in their development, contending that knowledge is power, and readily available information through the Internet provides the empowerment.
The laptops were distributed after members of the groups under WADN recently completed training on how to use a computer and techniques in browsing the Internet.
Established in 2011, WADN consists of 11women groups drawn from Regions One, Two, Six and Nine, which are involved in agro-processing. The groups produce a variety of products including cassava farine, cassava bread, peanut butter, vegetable and fruit-based sauces, achars, coconut oil, bottled water, coco sticks and soaps.
Prior to the establishment of WADN, the groups operated as individual entities, independent of each other, and in some cases unknowing to each other, given the geography of Guyana.
However, as part of a Making Markets Work Programme, it was recognised that greater efficiencies and synergies could be realised by bringing these groups together since they all share similar objectives, challenges and operational issues.
WAND is registered as a Friendly Society, and its objectives include developing market linkages locally and overseas; building capacity of member groups; and providing support to the communities in which member groups are located.
Through READ, poor rural households in six Guyanese regions are benefiting from better access to financial services and training in marketing and enterprise development – all designed to enable them to overcome poverty.

The overall goal of the project is to improve the social and economic conditions of these households, particularly for small-scale producers and vulnerable groups such as women and indigenous peoples.
Implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, the project is supported by both loan and grant- financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
An estimated 20,800 people, almost half of them women, benefit directly from project activities.

READ targets farmers who grow non-traditional crops and have up to five acres under cultivation, and operators of micro-enterprises and small-scale businesses employing up to five permanent workers.
It also focuses on rural households that are headed by women, households that include unemployed or underemployed young people, and Amerindian communities.