The name Rosamund Benn is one that is well known among women in many Regions of the country because she has served as the President of the Women’s Agro-processors Development Network (WADN) since 2013. But beyond the influential title, which sees her promoting the businesses and livelihoods of 11 groups of women across Guyana, Rosamund is a humble woman who sees herself simply as a mother,

a farmer and a maker of coconut oil- in that order.
The good, simple life
A native of Waramuri Mission, Region 1, Rosamund, at age 16 and at the time still in school, met the man who would become her husband. The young man, who hailed from the Pomeroon, married her as soon as she graduated, and he took her to his hometown and introduce her to his family profession of farming. Thirty four years later, Rosamund and her husband live on 25 acres of farmland. The 50-year -old credits farming as the strength upon which her entire family – their five grown children included- has been supported.
“I always tell my children, when you marry a farmer, you have to be married to the farm.
“When I look back, I cannot see my life without farming; I cannot give up on it because it is the backbone of everything we have acquired over the years,” Rosamund told Pepperpot in an interview.
It is also through farming that Rosamund discovered how to make coconut oil, a byproduct of their farm’s main resource. As a long standing member of the Pomeroon Women Agro-processors Association, Rosamund was involved with the factory that helped to manufacture the women’s products there.
“The factory had started making coconut oil by using a solar dryer, but they were taking a long time; it could take up to 3 days, using 100 coconuts and you would only get about a gallon of oil,” she said. By using the boiling process at home, Rosamund realised she could make more oil in the same amount of time. “Using the natural sun in the open air, I could get about four gallons from 200 coconuts by the third day.”
She explained that the three day process involves bursting, digging and milling the coconuts, squeezing off the excess juice and leaving it to set for another day. By the third day, a formation of oil would appear, at which time the excess fat could be removed to access the oil in its purest form.
Rosamund’s finished product, dubbed “Benn’s Coconut Oil” is then packaged and sold at her stall in the Pomeroon Marketplace- another task which she enjoys. Undoubtedly, the last six years of making and selling her coconut oil has brought her much joy, and she admits that the support from her community is just added satisfaction for what she does. “Lots of people look forward to my oil; people love to know that they can buy pure coconut oil from a local manufacturer, and many people call me and visit my stall to buy it,” she said.
It is these simple ventures that have contributed to her family life. In a community where financial facilities don’t exist, Rosamund’s success is therefore self-made. She has avoided bank loans and instead depended on her daily trade on the farm and in the market to satisfy her family’s needs. She added that she has also partaken of the traditional custom of “throwing box hand” for the last 12 years, which helps her to save money as well.
Yet, it is feeling of accomplishment that these things have brought to her life that Rosamund says gives her the biggest rush.
“It gives me a satisfaction to see that I no longer label myself a housewife and I no longer look and say that just because I didn’t have a higher education, I can’t fulfill my role as a woman in business,” Rosamund said. Moreover, she admits that she also gets pleasure knowing that the product she makes is one that fulfills the needs of her customers who avidly look forward to Benn’s Coconut Oil. “It gives me a passion to go on and it is also good to know that I was able to personally contribute to my children’s school expenses, and other things,” she said.
The Women’s Agro-processors Development Network (WADN)
Rosamund has been an active member of the Pomeroon Women Agro-processors Association since 2006. In 2011, at a women’s workshop in Mabaruma, she and another representative from the Pomeroon group were elected to join the first formation of the WADN which consisted of five women’s groups at that time. The body aimed at creating a network for women involved in agro-processing to expand their trade and support each other, while helping to create employment for persons in their communities.
The WADN now consists of 11 Women’s groups from across the country and Rosamund has served as President of the body for two consecutive terms, having been re-elected. The WADN aims to meet in Georgetown only twice yearly, considering that the women have to come from far outlying Regions and this may cause significant expense for them.
Rosamund states that she is glad to be part of the WADN as it has exposed her to many significant opportunities.
Most notably, she was given the chance to visit Brussels to share the experiences of women entrepreneurs in Guyana; an event that she remembers to this day.