Sector Consultations
Food Processing Sector Consultations & Capacity Building
In line with GIEPA’s mandate to develop and support MSME growth and sustainability, the Agency in collaboration with MOTIE have embarked on sector specific training initiatives to spur growth and sustainability in key MSME sub-sectors of Food Processing. This is with a view to building human capital among youth and women groups engaged in Food Processing impacting on their businesses and thus on their socio-economic status. This follows a sector consultation of the Food Processing by MOTIE and GIEPA which identified major challenges/constraints faced by players in the sector. The challenges which cut-across business and technical skill-gaps range from Basic Book-keeping, costing, marketing, food safety and hygiene, labeling and packaging, food standards, market requirements.
Having identified the challenges of the sector, the capacity building initiative will significantly respond to the needs of these sub-sectors in developing business and technical competences in food processing through tailored training modules. A combination of tried and tested methods of BDS Training for the sector and specialized training based on practical experiences in skills and enterprise development for employment promotion, income generation, effective competition and local economic development will be applied during the training to the set of participants. This is to buttress the significance for the creation of sustainable enterprises and development in this sub-sector through assistance in expanding economic opportunities and income security through workforce training and employment creation. It further aims at enhancing production and services of the target sub-sector with a view to supporting them attain export ready status and meeting international market requirements which does not only impact positively on individual businesses but also serves as a means of foreign exchange earnings and contribution to narrowing balance of payment deficits of The Gambia economy.
A similar consultation initiative has been conducted by MOTIE and GIEPA for follow-up capacity building for the Tie & Dye sector...[READ MORE]