From Unemployment to an Agro-Processor

DESPITE challenges, Saskia Mack from the remote village of Massara, North Rupununi, has navigated hurdles to make a living as a female farmer of both hot and sweet peppers.

With a 12-year-old son, who will be attending secondary school in September this year, Mack wanted to start a small business where she could have an income, no matter how small, to contribute towards her child’s education.

She told Pepperpot Magazine that she is a housewife turned small business owner, producing homemade fresh pepper sauce, sauces, pickled pepper, and Chikiti (dried pepper) to sell.

Mack explained that she wanted to garner funds to buy her son new school supplies for the term. Sending him to school to get a secondary education is her top priority as a mother.

Being her only child, she wants to provide him with the opportunity to learn at the secondary level, and she will do whatever it takes to ensure he is well-equipped to attend school come September.

Mack said her husband, Orin Merriman, is the farmer; he cultivates the peppers, but she would assist him occasionally. She initially had a small kitchen garden, but they later planted 100 roots of wiri wiri peppers.

The entrepreneur/agro-processor stated that after cultivating peppers, she got the idea to make pickles, pepper sauce, and Chikiti to earn, since she was previously unemployed.

She would sell her products from home or hire a motorcycle for the day, in which the motorist would take her around to several villages, including Rupertee, Annai, Yupukari, and others, to sell on Market Day.

Mack reported that an agency affiliated with the current administration recently gifted her two blenders to enhance her pepper sauce-making, and she is very happy about the donation, which is boosting her productivity.

Instead of grinding peppers by hand via a hand-mill, she now utilises the electrical blenders, which are faster. “I want to expand, to produce more, to earn a bit more, so I have a plot of land which needs to be developed, but I need help to do it. My desire is to plant more, so my harvest can be bountiful and I can provide for my family,” she said.

Mack related that her husband is by her side. He does all the farm work — cultivating and everything — and she is thankful for him.

She is also very pleased that her 12-year-old son will be attending secondary school, and she is very proud of him.

Mack is a very determined hot pepper farmer who has been growing for just over a year now to bring an income to the home.

However, during the dry spell in North Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and other unforeseen setbacks, her peppers are still blooming because they water them when they should.

Mack, a homemaker too, plans to move her farm to another location to access water for her plot better, but she needs some help in acquiring a water pump, fencing materials, and land clearing and preparation aid from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

“I don’t want money from the government. I would like the help in the form of materials to prepare the land and fence it so I can start planting, so I will be able to earn for myself and for my little family,” she said.

Mack hopes that representatives from the MoA will soon visit so she can request the necessary items to scale up her cultivation.

She and her husband, also a pepper farmer, grow hot and sweet peppers to sell.

But Mack single-handedly makes homemade sauces, pickled peppers, and Chikiti (dried pepper), which are sun-dried at home. With the help of the Guyana Manufacturing Corporation (GMC) solar dryer in the village, the process is simplified.

She uses both glass and plastic bottles, recycling them to package her products for the local market.

Mack is often located at her home or at the Village Benab in Massara, North Rupununi, where she sells her homemade products.