At Moco Moco Village in Region Nine, Central Rupununi, opportunities for sustainable employment are few. Annalisa Edwards, a Macushi woman and a resident of Moco Moco is the manager of the Kayaweng Women’s Agro Processors Group, established in 2018, and these days comprising fifteen women.
Kayaweng is a Macushi word meaning ‘Sky Valley’ and the Association was born out of the need to create gainful employment for women in the community as well as to develop a storehouse facility in the event that a natural disaster threatened to imperil the community’s farm crops. The initiative was a response to bitter experiences of crop loss through flooding.
A small factory, outfitted with modest but efficient equipment marked the start of the initiative. It was a gift from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 2018 Kayaweng commenced the production of farine, part of the community’s staple diet. Most of the farine used by the community was, hitherto, imported from Brazil. Earlier this year, the group began producing cassava bread.
