Ceylon Cinnamon Academy - changing lives in SL
With 31,000 hectares under cinnamon cultivation employing approximately 400,000 people directly and indirectly, the cinnamon industry still faces shortage of labour and a lack of formal training for enhancing the skills of its workforce.
This status quo has now been changed with the establishment of the Cinnamon Training Academy ( CTA), which aims to attract job-seekers independent of age or gender, train them in specific areas of cinnamon cultivation and factory operations on par with international standards, thereby helping them upgrade their skills and earn a stable income. A media release by the CTA this week stated that the average export earning recorded for cinnamon bales is US$132 million and $7 million for value-added products, which reflects that the industry has tremendous export potential.
CTA's role as a formal training centre will help uplift cinnamon workers at the grassroots level, recognising and certifying their knowledge, thus offering them dignity of labour and social acceptance. The certification for training on occupations established for Cinnamon factory and field operations offered by the institute augurs well for the industry and its stakeholders such as exporters and producers who have much at stake in the industry and should be buoyed to see this influence of professionalism into what has earlier been an unorganized sector, the CTA said.
Over the last several decades, there has been a dip in demand for Ceylon cinnamon due to lack of quality certification which will change with CTA taking on the challenge to establish GMP accredited production centres and specific education of cinnamon workers on the relevance of safer food. CTA, as a knowledge hub for the cinnamon industry, would be the training provider, the consulting agent for GMP and even plans to foray into product testing in the future.
The media release stated that in the cinna- mon centres where the needed upgrade was already done, safe and secure working environment is available since Ceylon cinnamon enjoys almost a monopoly in global markets. With more of the country's workforce opting for the cinnamon industry, local communities would be more developed.
The CTA said it is aspiring to create value for human capital in the industry so that more workers are attracted to the industry. The current national endeavour with the President of Sri Lanka pushing the authorities on creating million employments to mitigate unemployment rates, can be eased with the abundant employment opportunities in the cinnamon sector. - (NG)