REJOPRAO had the opportunity to interview Madam Fatima Atanane who is currently serving as the public relations officer for the cooperation. In an exclusive interview that she granted, she mentioned the main objectives of their organization.
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| Photo Credit: N. Darko |
- Support the sustainable management and exploitation of marine products has Douira, through the strengthening of technical and organizational capacities of adherents.
- Promoting sustainable management of natural resources of the coast through the replacement of firewood by the gas in the process of treatment and recovery of marine products, the tracking study of the state of the biomass and the awareness mussel pickers.
- Value to the products of the sea through the construction and equipment of a fresh mussel recovery unit and dried, the elaboration of a quality manual and processes sheets and promoting cooperative and its products.
Telling us about the processing she also mentioned that routing of the freshly harvested mussels is considered to in order to minimize its contamination. When received at the unit, it is first weighed and refrigerated at temperatures between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius. When enough volume has been acquired it is then retrieved washed and graded. There after grits attached are removed and baked at 100 degrees Celsius in special pans (these have in them sieves that makes it easy for separation) for easy removal of the husk - this is done using simple tools like knife on a working board. It is then soaked in a container filled with water as a pre-drying process. The mussels are dried naturally at the roof of the unit for a maximum of 72 hours depending on the prevailing weather conditions after which they are sent for the last stage which is the vacuum packaging. This takes out all the air trapped in the packaging polythene bag (this helps in the improvement of shelf life -it takes over 6 months before expiration). Now the packs are sent back to another cooling chamber for storage and ready for distribution.
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| Photo Credit: N. Darko |
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| Photo Credit: N. Darko |
The cooperative since its inception in 2007 has won three awards for the good work they are doing in their community. Women involve now have their livelihood improved. The job created bring back some income they use in supporting their families. One admitted she has never regretted being part of the cooperative. The total revenue generated from the sale is saved at the bank and used in the purchase of materials, tools and equipment in case some breakdown or get worn out. Some amount is set aside and made available to the members for credit anytime they need financial assistance.
Since the processing unit is quite a distance away from the market areas, we were curious to know how they distribute the finished product so we asked Madam Fatima. Her response; "Some of the products are bought by visitors, others also place orders and they are supplied and we have a TOYOTA pick-up with refrigeration system that is also used sometime to market our products".
The cooperative is independent and making good progress. They operate on their own and currently training more and more women to be part of the cooperative. Again a highlight of why our women are so invaluable when it comes to this fishing value chain. Their role in the development our economies in Africa and the world at large is paramount. Like I always say lets encourage all to be part of this particularly our youth. COFEPROMA is a success, others too can make it. Encouragement and self-motivation the key.
Written by: Nana Darko
