Aimed at preparing students to become agricultural entrepreneurs, the Kuru Kuru Cooperative College and the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) are gearing to forge what is being described as a ‘valued added’ collaboration.
It is expected that this move will see assistance being given to the College in establishing its Agro-processing Plant in Corentyne Berbice.
The formal talks, which commenced on Tuesday, saw Board of Directors of the Kuru Kuru College, led by its Chairman Mr. Ed Caesar, having dialogue with the Board and Management of GSA at its Mon Repos office.
During the meeting, a number of issues were raised which will fall under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two entities. Among those are technical assistance which will be provided to the college by the GSA to commence its fruits and vegetables processing plant and student exchange to enhance learning in the areas of animal science and soil management.
A technical team has since been appointed which includes Dr. Collin James, who also serves as a Board Member on the Kuru Kuru Board; Dr. Mark Pierre, Agriculture Health and Food Specialist at the Ministry of Agriculture; and Dr. Maxine Parris-Aaron, Agriculture Health Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
In return, the Cooperative College will provide academic support to the staff of GSA in the areas of Cooperative Management, Human Resources Management, Photography and Videography, Leadership and Project Management.
GSA’s Chairman of the Board, Dr. Thomas Richmond, welcomed the collaboration, highlighting some of the many successes being undertaken by the School in the identified area. He, however, advised that while both sides are excited about the future prospects to be derived, the collaboration will be done in phases, the first being the development of an animal science and soil management programme which will benefit students of the Kuru Kuru College.
Even as he lauded the collaboration between the two entities, Caesar underscored that, “There is much being done at the level of the College and we are happy with this new collaboration…it is the vision of the College to not only produce students of a certain caliber but better prepare them to become agricultural entrepreneurs.”
After the meeting, the team toured the agro-processing facility at the GSA where condiments such as jams, jellies, porridge mix, cakes among others are produced for the local and regional markets.
Presently, commodities produced at GSA are in 15 supermarkets across Guyana, even as the school works to have this further expanded in the New Year.
