Tag Archive for: rural

Enhancing Rural Women and Youth Engagement in Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship is the Key

The poor are dependent on market systems in various ways. Changing those market systems to work more effectively and sustainably for the poor improves their livelihoods and consequently reduce poverty.

This is so especially for rural women and youth who despite the enormous effort they put in the rural economy – particularly in agriculture have nothing much to show for it.

Promoting the rural women and youth economic empowerment is seen as one of the most important driving forces behind reducing poverty and aiding economic growth. The rural women and youth are paid less for their work and see fewer benefits of their labour. Women pursuit of economic empowerment encounters constraints in multi- levels that inhibit their active and viable participation in the market

These challenges are deeply entrenched social norms that affect women’s access to productive resources and assets, division of labour, access to training, information as well as market opportunities; gender sensitive policies that are not implemented; limited capacity of local actors to engage on gender norms and value affecting women economic empowerment, and limited capacity of women to access input, business assets and also lead successful businesses.

How we solve the Challenges

AiRD has been keen in developing and implementing projects that seek to address this constraints that tend to hinder the markets from working for women and youth. Different approaches and interventions have been implemented/are being implementing and include: Business Management trainings, financial literacy trainings, trainings on leadership and governance to have women and youth develop confidence, have the skills required for effective interaction at the market place, besides lobbying to have favorable policies. With skilled, connected and more conscious women and youth, the economies of the rural areas will never be the same again!

Lighting Homes with Africa Initiative for Rural Development

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In Ndoroto village, Naivasha east lives Ann Wangui, a mother of seven children. Two of her  children are enrolled in secondary school whilst three are in primary school, all within the same location.

While education is vital, the process comes with challenges as many homes and schools lack access to electricity. Ann herself lives in a  mud thatched house.

Her husband died in 2010 and culturally, there is high expectation for her to provide for the entire household. “I want the best for my children because I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school” she says.

Enrolled In the Program

Ann is a farmer and is currently enrolled in the government cash transfer program as one of the needy households. She is a member of Atiririri CBO, AiRD’s partner that introduces affordable solar lamps to households as a measure to enable school pupils to do their homework at home and attend to their chores. In the past,  Ann used parafin lamps which was more costly. Sometimes, she and her children had to survive dark nights as long as she could put food on the table.

However now that she has a solar lamp since January, Ann has seen significant improvement in her children’s school performance because she’s able to help them revise their homeworks. One of Ann’s children, Nephat has improved his scores from C+ to B+ and he is now able to help his siblings with revision.

With affordable solar lamps, the village can light their homes and use their energy for things such as charging their mobile phones and powering small radios.

“No labour is needed to fix the solar panel and bulbs, it’s affordability is a big help and we can conveniently pay over an agreed period of time through an agreement between our CBO and AiRD” says a grateful Ann who’s also encouraging her friends in the village to consider using solar lamps.  With solar power’s potential to bring energy, AiRD will continue lighting homes all over the country.