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MASARRA, OMAN'S NATURAL PRODUCTS BRAND LAUNCHED [Week, The (Oman)](Week, The (Oman) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Our Correspondent 'Masarra,' a brand of natural products pro duced by rural Omani women, was launched on Monday in a partner ship between the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Omran. The brand was introduced under the auspices of H E Sheikh Khalid bin Omar al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service, with the support of H E Dr Fuad bin Jaafar al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, and H E Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi, Chairman of Omran. The brand aims to put the efforts of 900 rural women under one umbrella in marketing and selling the products in local and international markets. The prod ucts will also be available online for purchase. According to Hamida al Shukairi, director of the Rural Women's Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the rural women of Oman are mainly dependent on agriculture for income. The min istry has been working to assist rural women make natural prod ucts for many years. "From the year 2000, until today, there has been a clear growth in their generation of agricultural products. Production growth has jumped from 24 per cent in 2000 to 65.3 per cent by the end of 2009. This is in addition to the increase in income from small projects. It was recorded in 2003 that the income was at RO300 per season of pro duction and grew to RO9000. The number of rural women in the projects has also increased to 24,725 participants," said Hamida during the launch. H E Dr Fuad stated in a press release that the launch of Masarra with Omran's support stemmed from the realization that the Omani rural women's products, even though popular among a lim ited number of locals and resi dents, has unlimited potential to grow in Oman and internationally. H E Jashmi said the brand was the next step in the betterment of the women's livelihood. "The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department of Omran has been working towards developing different programmes to help var ious sections of society," he said adding that the brand would help the women improve their prod ucts, increase their productivity and also help them market their product in a better way. Masarra will also promote tourism in Oman. "Tourism touc hes everybody, the families, the people. We also operate in the society, so it is our duty and responsibility to help the societies where we operate," H E Jashmi said. The products will be sold in special packages. Badriya al Siyabi, CSR manager at Omran, said, "Masarra can compete with imported products in the market in its design and quality, and more importantly, encourage tourism." Badriya also expressed the possibility of the brand branching out to include fish prod ucts in the future. (c) 2013 Apex Press and Publishing Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |