iValley Ghana has equipped 100 women, young people and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Chache and surrounding communities with life skills and entrepreneurship training as part of efforts to strengthen livelihoods and build community resilience.
The training forms part of the Atlantic Corridor II: Preventing and Responding to Violent Extremism in the Atlantic Corridor Project, co-funded by the Governments of Denmark and Norway in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and seeks to strengthen the economic resilience of communities at risk of violent extremism by expanding access to livelihood opportunities, skills development, financial inclusion and community-based peacebuilding initiatives.
As part of the livelihood support component which builds on earlier life skills and entrepreneurship training provided to all 100 beneficiaries and covered areas such as identifying business opportunities, financial and money management, market identification and developing a positive mindset towards self-reliance, 22 beneficiaries have received training in soap-making using shea, equipping them with practical skills to turn locally available shea resources into marketable, value-added products, and startup materials which will enable them establish their soap-making businesses and generate income from other newly acquired skills.
Another 22 beneficiaries have received poultry-rearing training, together with starter birds and other materials to help them establish or expand small-scale poultry enterprises.
Other beneficiaries have also received cassava processing training and productive equipment, including grinders and squeezers, to support them in developing income-generating activities around cassava processing, and technical training in livestock rearing as part of the project’s range of livelihood pathways.
According to the Executive Director of iValley Ghana, Prince Nabil Mahama, the organisation’s approach is focused on ensuring that training leads to practical economic opportunities.
“Our focus is not simply to provide beneficiaries with training or startup materials and leave them on their own. We want to see these skills translate into actual livelihoods. By combining training, productive assets, mentorship and continued business support, we are giving women and young people a stronger foundation to build sustainable enterprises and become more economically resilient.”
Regarding startup support, both individual and group arrangements have been made to allow beneficiaries pool resources where necessary, access productive assets that may be difficult to acquire individually, and strengthen collaboration within the community.
The livelihood activities form part of a broader package of interventions being implemented by iValley Ghana in Chache. These include the formation and strengthening of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), financial literacy and governance training, community dialogues, mentorship and peacebuilding activities.
IValley Ghana is also working to strengthen links between beneficiaries, savings groups and financial service providers to improve access to financial resources and opportunities for enterprise growth, and will continue to provide mentorship, monitoring and business development support as beneficiaries put their skills and productive assets into use. This will help build market linkages and encourage beneficiaries to develop viable businesses around opportunities available within their communities.
Through the intervention, iValley Ghana is combining skills development, productive assets, entrepreneurship support, financial inclusion and peacebuilding to help vulnerable community members build sustainable livelihoods and strengthen the socio-economic resilience of Chache and surrounding communities.
