Today there is consensus within the development arena that poverty is multidimensional. "Development needs to focus on freedom in a holistic sense, not just freedom from misery, hunger, illiteracy, illness and poor housing, but also freedom from being disrespected, undervalued and from being denied choice, information and opportunity," says Eveline Herfkens, Executive Coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals Campaign.
Learning and earning
As part of its capacity-building programme, the Commission for Agriculture, Natural Resources Rehabilitation and Water Resources of Rodrigues organized a series of training courses. They include topics such as fruit and vegetable production, seed and seedling production, weed and pest control, use of pesticides, irrigation and water management, quality control and post-harvest techniques and livestock raising. "We are building local capacity and raising awareness of good farming practices," says Jean Thomas Genave, Departmental Head of the Commission. "Only by building our own capacity will we be able to bring about change and eradicate poverty."
Promoting effective marketing
The IFAD-funded Rural Diversification Programme, in collaboration with the National Empowerment Foundation in Rodrigues, organized a training programme to introduce women to the concepts of business management and teach them the techniques of agro-processing and compliance with hygiene and sanitation standards. As a result of the training, most of the women who engage in agro-processing have created personalized labels for marketing their products.
Working in partnership with the National Empowerment Foundation, the community-driven component of the IFAD-supported programme co-funded a number of community centres that serve as meeting point for women. The centres are equipped with the implements that members of the women’s associations need for agro-processing and packaging activities. The centres also serve as shelters during storms and cyclones for people like Legoff whose dwellings are not solid.
Legoff soon realized that in Rodrigues she was just one of many women selling the same products in the local market. Her entrepreneurial instincts told her that to make a good income she had to export her products. She identified Mauritius as a potentially viable market.
The women contributed both in kind and in cash. They each contributed 1,000 Rps and they also cooked Rodrigan lunches to sell to the people who visited the stands. On the first day they took in 4,000 Rps.
For the fair, the women:
- prepared and packaged 300 jars of preserves and pickles. They sold 200 jars of sweet and sour lemons for 50 Rps, and 100 jars of chutney and chilis for 75Rps each, for a total of 20,000 Rps
- bought 11 kilograms of fish for 770 Rps and paid 1,000 Rps for drying and salting the fish. They then made 42 100-gram packages of fish, which they sold for 150 Rps per package. Their net gain was 4,530 Rps
- bought 10 kilograms of fresh octopus for 700 Rps. The women dried and packaged the octopus into 15 100-gram packages and sold them for 75 Rps, making 425 Rps
bought 10 Rodriguan artisanal straw hats made of Vacoas for 500 Rps and sold them for 750 Rps
Before returning from Mauritius the women spent 50 Rps for perfume that they resold on Rodrigues for 90 Rps. In all, their net gain was about 26,000 Rps.
Legoff continually takes on new challenges and broadens her horizons. She has begun to plant and sell flowers. "I want to learn how to make flower arrangements, so that I can sell not only flowers but also flower arrangements," she says.
"My dream is to have a truck so I can transport my products easily. I am working hard to build a better house for my son and myself," says Legoff. Her own determination and the support of the programme have enabled Legoff, a single mother, to overcome social and economic obstacles and seize opportunities to make her way out of poverty.
With the support of the IFAD-funded Rural Diversification Programme, women like Legoff and other poor rural people are learning how to become successful entrepreneurs. Their new skills empower them to share in the opportunities from which they were previously excluded.
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/voice/tags/mauritius/socialexclusion
No comments:
Post a Comment