Mam Cherno Jallow, chief executive officer  of the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), has urged food processors who benefited from the GCCI/IFC food processors training program to apply the skills gained to their various small and medium enterprises in the quest to improve the quality of their products.

Mr Jallow made these remark last Friday at the closing of a five-day training for food processors jointly organised by The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the International Finance Cooperation, at the Paradise Suites Hotel in Kololi.

According to him, the objective of the training was to enable food processors to improve the quality of hygiene as well as the efficiency of their products. He noted that only could the food processors achieve such  objectives, should they apply the knowledge gained from the capacity building training program.

He maintained that the training is part of his Chambers unshakable commitment to develop the skills of its members, adding that more sensitisations are in the pipeline.

‘’ This training which is the second batch sum up the number to fifty food processors who benefited from the GCCI/IFC Food Processors Training since its commencement,’’ he said.

CEO Jallow revealed that his Chamber is on the verge of developing a program that will seek to create an avenue where Gambian food processors will market their products in quality at both national and international level.

Mohamadoul Mustapha Bah, engineer on food processing and a consultant at the International Finance Cooperation, who facilitated the training, said during the week-long training, participants were trained and capacitated on food processing, packaging with a view to improve the quality of their products.

‘’ They were also trained on how to dry, preserve and manage quality. Most importantly, they were trained on how to process their products more hygienic for wider consumption,’’ he said.

Mr Bah then expressed hope that the training will go a long way in improving the quality of the products of the food processors.

Alieu Jagne, a participant and employee of the Dabbis Catering, lauded the initiative, describing it as a milestone development that will go a long way in the realisation of their business objective.

‘’ It is indeed laudable because we were exposed to new techniques in food processing which were long over due,’’ he said.

According to Alieu, the training has further inspired them to come up with the  initiative of establishing the association of Gambian food processors. This proposed association, he said, will comprise of competent Gambian food processors whose products will be in  quality and substantially enough for the consumption of the general public.

Participants at the end of the training were certified.

It could be recalled that thirty food processors, in 2007 benefited from similar training program organised by the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the International Finance Cooperation.