Brava: Project I beneficiaries of the local employment and employability network convinced of the benefits of the project

The beneficiaries of project I, of Brava's employment and employability network, which aims to transform, preserve and sell fish, say they are convinced that the project will change their lives.

This information was advanced to Inforpress by the beneficiaries, at a time when they had already started the production phase and that, a week after the presentation and tasting of the products, they already had several orders, which leads them to believe that they will have a market and the products will not be sold only on Brava or in the country, already thinking beyond borders.

The project, which has already been running for some years, having started with training in 2019, has 17 beneficiaries, two men and 15 women, young people from the three fishing communities of Brava, namely Furna, Fajã d´Agua and Lomba Tantum, where the unit of transformation is located.

Carla Baptista, one of the beneficiaries, praised the importance of the project and emphasized that, thanks to this, these 17 young people will have the opportunity to have a job and produce quality products to be placed on the market, which will guarantee them a livelihood for their families.

In addition, he highlighted that being part of the project was a way for the beneficiaries to empower themselves at all levels, recalling that there were several capacity building and training actions that they received until they reached this stage.

Last Thursday, April 6th, entities from Brave, commercial establishments, hotels and catering units presented the products they made to the public and, since then, the beneficiary said that they had already received requests for several orders, which is increasing the trainees' conviction in the project's success.

Cíntia Cardoso is another beneficiary of the project, who is satisfied with the way things are going, in a project that will demonstrate the determination of women, taking into account that they are the majority.

Asked about what products they will offer to the market, Cíntia Cardoso indicated hamburgers, sausages, salami, croquettes, smoked fish, scaled fish, among others.

For his part, Mário Soares, coordinator of Brava's local employment and employability network, highlighted that at this moment the feeling is one of “gratitude”, mainly for the beneficiaries who have already managed to reach the production phase and guarantee a livelihood for the beneficiaries.

According to this official, the project has already been implemented for some years, as it started in 2019 with the integration of several institutions that financed the project, namely, Luxembourg cooperation through the CVE/081 program, the Government of Cape Verde, the Municipality of Brava, but also all the members of the local Brava network and the project manager, who did everything possible to have this transformation unit in Lomba Tatum.

He said he was convinced that in the near future it would be possible to expand production and informed that labels and packaging were already being prepared to place the product on the market with a “different” appearance and to be on an equal footing with other processed products. from the fish.

Mário Soares announced that they are looking for more financiers to work on consolidation and acceptance at a national and perhaps international level, reinforcing that the network will remain engaged in this project, and in others, and work to combat the existing unemployment rate at a national level. of the municipality.

Walter Silva, technician from the Instituto do Mar (IMAR) and trainer in the project, stressed that the project will “leverage and give more power to the women beneficiaries”, showing that they are showing “a lot of determination” and working hard to obtain the plotted results.

He sees this project as an “opportunity”, because it is a new product in the Fogo e Brava region and believes that in the tasting carried out, the product was widely accepted in the market, taking into account the feedback received, which shows that it is a product that will have market acceptance.

The Employment and Employability Network of Ilha Brava was made official by the island's municipal assembly in January 2019, supported by the Luxembourg Cooperation, through the Employment and Employability Program CVE/081.