LOWER DIR: The second phase of olive pickle production training has reached Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, helping members of Olive Business Development Groups (OBDGs) develop practical food-processing skills and explore income-generating opportunities through olive-based products.
Following an earlier training session in Nowshera, the programme is enabling participants to apply the knowledge gained during Phase I through hands-on activities focused on olive pickle production, packaging, product costing and preservation.
During the training, participants worked with olives that had undergone debittering and curing to prepare different varieties of olive pickles. The sessions also covered packaging methods, calculating production costs and techniques to preserve product quality.
The initiative aims to strengthen value addition in the olive sector by helping participants move beyond raw olive production towards processed products with potential commercial value.
By developing practical processing and business skills, the programme also seeks to create opportunities for women and young people to explore entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods in their communities.
Olive processing and value-added products can provide opportunities for local producers to diversify their income sources, particularly when supported by appropriate food-safety practices, effective packaging and access to markets.
The training highlights the potential of skills development and small-scale food processing to support rural enterprise and strengthen local agricultural value chains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
As the second phase progresses, participants are expected to build on their earlier learning and develop greater capacity to produce, preserve and market olive-based products.
