A three-day Capacity Building Training of Women Group on Food Processing and Packaging was organised by NEWS from 17th-19th August under the Living Lakes Biodiversity and Climate Project, at the Eco-Development Committee Hall, Village- Chakardo, beside Deepor Beel. Mrs. Malamoni Hazarika, an independent certified trainer, facilitated the training sessions. The training aims on increasing the capacity of the women living in the fringe villages of Deepor Beel in creating an avenue of supplementary income generation thereby reducing the pressure on Deepor Beel (a Ramsar site) and to organise, empower and sensitize them for protection of this wetland.
The 1st day of the session briefly introduced the idea behind food processing and demonstrated two recipes of local products – Mango juice and Pineapple squash. On the 2nd Day, two recipes namely, Elephant apple pickle and Mango pickle along with basic idea on preservation and storage of food was demonstrated. On the day 3 of the training, the participants learnt about pineapple Jam making, bottling, sealing. The participants followed the step-by-step process simultaneously as the resource person demonstrated practically and the NEWS team co-facilitated the process. After the completion of each recipe, time was allocated for Q&As, where the participants were given the opportunity to interact with the Resource person. Altogether 30 women from Chakardo and Azara participated in the training.
