Resilience and Empowerment of Women and Youth

“The Project for Resilience and Empowerment of Women and Youth in Agriculture (PRAFA)

Eclosio

The Hubi & Vinciane Foundation works for this DGD programme with its partner, the Belgian NGO Eclosio (affiliated to the Faculty of Agriculture of Gembloux).
(DGD = Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid)

The programme helps rural families to improve their socio-economic conditions, health and the exercise of their rights. The strategy is mainly based on capacity building, articulation between actors, gender awareness, entrepreneurship, environmental integration (including the agro-ecological approach), micro-insurance for capitalization.

Young people and women are guided to strengthen and balance family farming and income-generating activities.

Concretely, that means:

  • Consultation and awareness-raising on integrated and environmentally responsible agriculture, balanced nutrition – including radio campaigns, social media and local events;
  • Provide and supervise entrepreneurial activities;
  • Support and advice in agro-ecology and development and management of micro-enterprises, specific advice for family businesses;
  • Capitalization and dissemination of agro-ecological practices and techniques and sharing of experiences among micro-enterprises.
  • Establish networks for young entrepreneurs, advisory bodies and micro-credit institutions, markets;
  • Establish and coordinate consultation frameworks and innovation platforms for farmers;
  • Capacity building:
    • producers, young entrepreneurs (technical, management, leadership, etc.);
    • examples of farmers (agro-ecology);
    • partners and local actors (training, implementation and follow-up of the institutional – participatory diagnosis and organizational development plan);
  • Establishment of microfinance mechanisms: support for entrepreneurship, access to equipment and inputs (mobilisation of additional resources);
  • Support for the creation of treatment units (community-based approach), mechanisms for collective management of storage;
  • Support for the structuring of informal micro-enterprises.

Start-up program for ecological family farming

This is a new programme, supported by the new innovation centre. The Foundation wishes to facilitate and support the creation of small-scale agricultural enterprises, in collaboration with the NGO Eclosio.