Elaine Hartman Reckord, JIS Writer
Banana fibre products made under the Golden Grove Banana Fibre project. - JIS Photo
If you cultivate bananas, then there is something you need to know: Every time you discard the banana trunks, you could be throwing away millions of dollars.
At Eastern Banana Estates Limited - a leading banana company in Golden Grove, St Thomas - some 630,000 trunks are thrown away every seven to eight months to make way for the planting of a new crop.
But what is waste to some is a potential gold mine for others, and the St Thomas Golden Grove Banana Fibre project is taking to heart that familiar Jamaican saying "tek yu han tun fashion'.
Talented craftsmen are now producing paper and a variety of decorative items from the trunks, which contain a significant amount of fibre.
The craftsmen have also come up with the idea of intertwining the banana fibre with leather to make items such as belts, picture frames, lampshades, folders and school bags.
There is a range of other creative products being developed, including leather sandals with banana fibre straps, pencil holders, gift bags, leather and paper photo frames, just to name a few.
Unique products
"Our core group here is an intelligent set of participants who have great ideas," Ivan Solomon, manager for the group, was proud to say. "The leather craft, I think is intriguing and interesting, a unique product that we will be putting on the market."
This idea, to mix the fibre with leather, came from a former craft teacher of St Thomas Technical High School in Golden Grove.
The project was developed out of a need to provide employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for residents. Through discussions and assistance from the Social Development Commission and the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC), operations began in August 2007. The German Embassy was the first to provide a grant of some $200,000 to start the project, while the Jamaica Social Investment Fund provided over $400,000 for the training component.
Later, the European Union assisted with a grant of some $714,000 for the further expansion of the project, which included training in leather craft and the purchasing of tools and leather.
"We were trained in business management, writing a business plan, costing, marketing research, and auditing," said Solomon, while pointing out that the group attended training three days per week.
The group started with 25 persons when training began.
"It is a bit hard, so those we have here are sacrificing their time and effort for the continuation of this project," he said.
Ten craft workers still remain in the project and Solomon has said he has been pleased with the enthusiasm they have been showing.
Idahoe Christie, who was with the project from its inception, said she felt proud to be among the first participants and one of its masterminds. She said she had no fear of starting the project, knowing that the banana trunks would always be available.
"I never knew that paper could be made from banana waste material," she admitted. "I tried to extract the fibre at home and I found that I like making the paper. It is really interesting and I like to make things with it. Young people who leave school and have nothing to do can get involved in things like this and it would be a way forward."
Constant supply
Finding banana trunks in a banana-producing area is simple and this was what stimulated the group into going ahead with the project. However, to ensure a constant supply of the product, Solomon said the group has an agreement with Eastern Banana Estates Limited to supply the banana bark after the fruit has been harvested.
There are also plans to have a large quantity of the fibre extracted and stockpiled in the event of hurricanes or a drop in banana production. But the project could not have been possible without the technical direction and support of the JBDC.
"Our involvement with the group began in January this year. They had come to us requesting training in a new area, so we went in and we spent about a month doing training. We taught them pretty much the entire process of extracting fibre from the banana trunk," said Colin Porter, the JBDC team leader for innovative industry.
He said the Golden Grove group had become part of a network of fibre producers who had been providing the JBDC with fibre, which is then converted into pulp and returned for the production of craft items. He said the pulping of the fibre to make paper has to be done by a particular machine, which is not easily available.
"We were fortunate to have got that machine through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, because they were the ones who introduced us to the process," he said.
handmade paper
Porter said there was a market for handmade paper, which is appreciated by artists and craftsmen who use the sheets to make invitations or greeting cards.
The team leader said he hoped that by the end of the year, the Golden Grove craftsmen would be able to put out a full collection of products for the market and Things Jamaican shops.
In the meantime, Solomon said the members would concentrate on the creation of new products and advertising the products at various expositions.
This is a collaborative feature between The Gleaner Company and the Jamaica Information Service.
