2024-07-16 03:50:48
Get real-time updates directly to your device, subscribe now.
The National Office for Professional Training and Development (ONFPP) supports young Guineans in various trades such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing to facilitate their socio-professional integration.
Beyond that, this department is expanding its support in the areas of market gardening and in training workshops in wall decoration and making pearl bags. On the afternoon of this Thursday, July 11, 2024, Lanciné Camara went to the site to learn about the realities of the level of understanding of the learners, but also the working conditions and the difficulties faced by women market gardeners in the horticultural plain of Sonfonia, in the suburbs of Conakry.
“We are used to training in several trades. This time at the center of the railway city, it is in wall decoration and making pearl bags. And we must recognize that these young ladies and boys are doing a great job. For our part, we are initiating these young people to do training that is profitable so that at the end of the training with their artistic hands they are able to produce jewelry and many things by making art that will allow them to earn a living,” said the head of the OFPP, who further indicated that the objective sought is to offer empowerment, skills and trades to these young people, capable of turning the country’s economy through their production.
At the railway city located at the canteen in the Commune of Matoto, many have benefited from this support from the State through the National Office of Training and Improvement. In making pearl bags, there are 100 girls who participate in this training. According to one of the trainers, a first group of 50 people have already finished for a period of two (2) weeks.
“Currently we are with the second group of 48. We are in the second week. This job allows us to live, to have money and above all not to beg elsewhere. We teach them to make beaded bags and other accessories like belts, boxes for offices…we have several techniques. As you can see, they are there, they make the bags, then we gather them to give them a shape. The beads, the fishing lines are the raw materials we use. There are the chains that we use as accessories,” confided the trainer Asta Fofana.
Also in this center, wall decoration is done, which is a very exceptional way and consists of embellishing walls, offices and classrooms.
“We do it here to help young girls and boys who are out of school or who do not have a decent job to do a job in order to be able to support themselves. As raw materials, we use bamboo, glue, paint, cardboard, beads to embellish. It is recycling and art that we do. It is a passion. There are young girls and men that we close. We must normally train 200 people. Here we are with the 4th group composed of 25 people. The training takes two weeks and it is free (…)”, mentioned the other trainer, Souadou Barry.
From the city, the visit continued to the suburbs of Conakry, to Sonfonia more precisely. There, plains are being developed, which serve as a learning platform for new techniques for improving market gardening production for nearly 300 women, particularly on the preparation not only of soils, nurseries, but also their phytosanitary treatment.
“These women benefited from basic knowledge on soil preparation, nursery maintenance and also procedures relating to transplantation to enable them to improve their yield. Beyond that, this training allowed them to have more guidance on treatment, because in the past they spent a lot of time preparing the nursery. Also, learning the techniques for using organic products, from manufacturing to use (…). Because at times we cannot rely on chemical products, but on organic products through the use of waste, which they used to make the mixture. There were 250 women who actively followed the training for 25 days and 100% practical,” explained Mr. Daouda Bangoura, trainer and specialist in market gardening production.
“We are very happy with the results of this training, because it allowed us to put into practice what we learned. I admit that in the past we practiced these kinds of techniques but routinely. It is thanks to this training that we were able to put into practice what we are doing. At the beginning we can say that our yields were favorable, since that is what we do daily. But with these techniques learned, we already think that our yields will increase significantly. The nurseries have already given, we have the transplanting and we will follow the evolution of the thing”, rejoiced on behalf of her friends, Hadja Adama Camara, market gardener, before raising some of the problems encountered.
“We are overwhelmed by water, but also by the construction of social housing. This is why we would like the Government to help us, especially the Ministry of Agriculture. That the Minister himself comes to inquire about the realities. The daily reports do not suit us. But if he comes to see with his own eyes, I believe that we can find a solution to our problems,” she requested.
After listening to these women, the Director General of ONFPP confided that, like the interior of the country, the Government would like to demonstrate “that it is possible to live and farm in Conakry, hence the choice of the Sonfonia plains, dedicated to the practice of market gardening in greenhouses which had suffered from their development since 2021. With a first experience with poor results, Mr. Lanciné Camara recognized the many challenges that remain a concern.
“We are facing several challenges, including water control, which must allow the greenhouses to operate. This is why we have invested in inputs, in biofertilizers. We have consultants who support these women divided into several educational groups, but we must recognize that there are disappointments, that not everything works as desired, especially in this winter period when the ladies have to face several challenges. The challenge of water, of flooding their greenhouse, but also the challenge of supporting partners, stakeholders in their sector of activity. Here you have tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, we are not too sure that the crop will be good this time. It is a learning mechanism, not everything necessarily succeeds the first time. The greenhouses have existed since 2021, this is the first time that women have attempted cultivation here and we are faced with a somewhat mixed result where we believe that this first round, unfortunately for us, will not necessarily be crowned with success…,” he acknowledged.
Sâa Robert Koundouno
(+224) 620-546-653