The Cathy Rich Centre, which is located in Embilipitiya , Sri Lanka aims to enable people engaged in the micro and small –scale food –processing sector to develop relevant skills and to increase their access to information , which will contribute towards helping them gain control of their livelihoods and communities.

The concept of the centre was initially developed with the help of a trust fund set up by the friends and family of Cathy Jane Rich, a dedicated ITDG_UK volunteer food technologist who passed away in a road accident in Sri Lanka in 1986. She was at the time assisting programmes to promote small scale food processing to provide employment for rural Sri Lankan women.

The centre was officially established in 1992 as a joint project of the ministry of Policy Planning and Implementation and Practical Action – ITDG. The centre is a registered institution under the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) in 2001 as food processing training centre. (No: P07/0032), The centre was registered not for profit – fee for service organisation in 1997 and function as fully autonomous institution that is governed by a Board of Directors

Services of CRC: The CRC operates within the food Processing Technology industry it has the stated objective to enable micro and small-scale food entrepreneurs to become more prosperous, which would directly contribute to rural poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. Our core business involves facilitating the development of these enterprises by offering a series of food processing related Training programmes and by conducting and supporting and development activities.

Our training programmes include, technology advancement training in food processing (for example in: fruit and vegetables, grain, fish and dairy products, confectionery, Bakery), food Spoilage and Preservation, food act, food packaging, management capacity development of entrepreneurs and Rice flour based Products. Additionally, the centre offers training of trainees (TOT) programmes that allows for the distribution of knowledge to larger audience island-wide and also across South Asia.

The center’s client base includes aspiring / existing entrepreneurs, trainees from Governmental and non Governmental institutes and students form national universities those who follows food science degree or subject and various high schools. Many of the training courses that are conducted by the CRC are supported through numerous government and NGO/INGO Programmes.