Strengthening women's leadership and entrepreneurship capacities
problem & solution
There have long been trainings in production and agroecology initiatives, where women participants learned how to grow their own food.
However, trainings that only focused on production were not comprehensive and there was little knowledge on how to market products and increase income.
This particularly affected women, as most of them had to take on reproductive work in addition to production, which made it difficult for them to position their products in the market.
The solution was to develop a School of Leadership and Entrepreneurship with a broad curriculum that focuses on entrepreneurship and the integral development of every woman.
the experience
- Creation of a School of Leadership and Entrepreneurship: it is an inclusive space in which young people of both sexes and also adult men participated.
- Establishing the brand identity of each productive initiative, which is necessary for their visibility.
- Making a business plan, which serves to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses and to apply the necessary adjustments to improve performance.
- Management of the ventures with records of costs, sales, etc.
- Making strategic alliances, in order to open up spaces for commercialisation that allow to generate more income and promote healthy eating.
Challenges
- The sustainability of unaccompanied groups
Impact
- The economic situation of women has been improved by having new spaces for the commercialisation of products
- Recognition of the importance of adding value to products by processing them for marketing
Lessons Learned
- Strategic partnerships with local governments and other institutions are indispensable for implementation and success
- The training of women contributes to an equitable sharing of reproductive work with their partners
