Support Rural Women Start & Grow Green Businesses

CGEP ACTIVITY REPORT: AUG 22 – FEB 23

DEMO DAY

Twenty-three (23) women of the rural communities in the Asante-Agona District graduated from cohort 1 of the Community Green Economy Project. The graduation officialised their completion of thorough hards-on training in Mushroom farming, fish farming, black soap production and added value and organic fertilizer production and soft skill training in business development and management. These women were certified and ushered into a community for continuous support and nurturing.

EVALUATION VISIT

After two months of graduation of the project beneficiaries, Recycle Up! Ghana as part of the activities of the project embarked on a two-day monitoring visit on the 5th & 6th of October 2022 to the graduated beneficiaries. The objectives of the visit was;

• To confirm the initiatives of beneficiaries to start business operation 
• To identify the support needed by the beneficiaries
• To confirm the willingness to be registered with RGD and BAC

Nineteen(19) beneficiaries availed themselves and were visited. All nineteen(19) either had secured a space to commence operation or had produced some samples for the market.

SUPPORT DELIVERY (13/12/2022) 

With the aim of empowering women in rural communities to develop green businesses under the community green economy project, Recycle Up! Ghana supported nineteen (19) women from cohort 1 graduates under the project. 

The support provided beneficiaries with startup kits like cooking pots, metallic pans, a water tank, a water pumping machine, a wooden mortar and pestle, wooden fruiting shelves and a soap-shaping bar. All nineteen (19) women were registered under the Agona Business Advisory Center for further business development support, market linkages and access to financial support. 

With the nineteen(19) women, a total of seven (7) green businesses were developed and as part of the support are further undergoing a business registration process under the Registrar’s General Department to officialise their business names.

NEW COMMUNITIES RECRUITMENT (12/12/2022) 

Preparations for the next cohort of the community green economy project are already underway. On the 12th of December 2022, four new communities were visited in the Agona district namely Kona, Odumasi, Asamang and Boanim. 

The visit aimed at engaging the community Assembly leaders to get to know:

• Community’s Background 
• Experience with such projects and interest 
• Community’s contribution to the project

With the findings from the visit, the Asamang meta-community exhibited the greatest potential to host the project and the Assembly leaders demonstrated a keen interest in supporting the project to empower the local women in the communities. The community basically has almost raw materials needed for the green products development selected for the cohort and its position situate it very closer to two major markets in Agona and Effiduase. Asamang has four(4) electoral areas constituting six(6) medium-sub communities with about 12,000 to 14,000 locals. The locals are mostly engaged in the farming of Cocoa.

BENEFICIARIES RECRUITMENT EXERCISE

With the new communities selected for cohort 2 of the community green economy project, the project team visited the selected communities namely Ahenbronom, Krotia, Abrouso and Siewuo to register applicants. 

Application forms were developed, and on the 13th of January, the applicants were assisted to fill in their details. Fifty (50) applicants were registered during the exercise. With the target of selecting thirty (30) beneficiaries for the program, a selection criterion was developed to grade the applicants to select the most suitable applicants to be the beneficiaries for cohort 2 of the project. The criterion was made to favour low-income youth who demonstrated the passion to be able to develop a business from the training. Based on the criterion, twenty-six applications qualified; however based on experience in cohort 1, a standby list of nine near-suitable additional applicants was created to make a total of thirty-five (35) applicants. 

All selected applicants were informed of their success in the program however five (5) applicants could not be accepted to be part of the program because; 

• Three of them are Senior High School students still in school.
• The other two applicants have relocated Therefore the total number of selected applicants stands at thirty (30).

INTRODUCTORY MEETING

As the Community Green Economy Project advances in the selected communities with recently completed activities on recruitment and beneficiary selection exercises for cohort 2, an introductory session was organized on the 15 of February 2023 at Asamang Community Centre for the first meet-up with the selected beneficiaries, trainers, and other stakeholders, to commence the training journey of the beneficiaries. A total of 30 beneficiaries (all female) and 3 trainers attended the meeting. 

This meet-up purposely sought to, 

• Officially introduce RUG and the Project to participants 
• Introduce trainers and trainees. 
• Know the expectations of project beneficiaries.

HARDSKILL TRAINING

On the 20th of February, all hardskill trainings commenced with the expection of Black soap prodcution which commenced on the 22nd of February. All the trainings were completed successfully on the 23rd of February. Twenty-six (26) beneficiaries benefited from the training organized. 

At the end of the African black soap training, a task was given to beneficiaries to sell products produced during the training. Also, the snail-farming beneficiaries were given the task to rear the snails in the structure till demo day as a source of learning while working. Beneficiaries for the mushroom farming also tasked to management the mushroom bags they nursed.

Links:

• Learn more about Recycle Up! Ghana on our website
• Find videos of Recycle Up! Ghana's various projects -YouTube

After two months of graduation of the project beneficiaries, Recycle Up! Ghana as part of the activities of the project embarked on a two-day monitoring visit on the 5th & 6th of October 2022 to the graduated beneficiaries. The objectives of the visit was;

• To confirm the initiatives of beneficiaries to start business operation
• To identify the support needed by the beneficiaries
• To confirm the willingness to be registered with RGD and BAC

Nineteen(19) beneficiaries availed themselves and were visited. All nineteen(19) either had secured a space to commence operation or had produced some samples for the market.

SUPPORT DELIVERY (13/12/2022)

With the aim of empowering women in rural communities to develop green businesses under the community green economy project, Recycle Up! Ghana supported nineteen (19) women from cohort 1 graduates under the project.

The support provided beneficiaries with startup kits like cooking pots, metallic pans, a water tank, a water pumping machine, a wooden mortar and pestle, wooden fruiting shelves and a soap-shaping bar. All nineteen (19) women were registered under the Agona Business Advisory Center for further business development support, market linkages and access to financial support.

With the nineteen(19) women, a total of seven (7) green businesses were developed and as part of the support are further undergoing a business registration process under the Registrar’s General Department to officialise their business names.

NEW COMMUNITIES RECRUITMENT (12/12/2022)

Preparations for the next cohort of the community green economy project are already underway. On the 12th of December 2022, four new communities were visited in the Agona district namely Kona, Odumasi, Asamang and Boanim.

The visit aimed at engaging the community Assembly leaders to get to know:

• Community’s Background
• Experience with such projects and interest
• Community’s contribution to the project

With the findings from the visit, the Asamang meta-community exhibited the greatest potential to host the project and the Assembly leaders demonstrated a keen interest in supporting the project to empower the local women in the communities. The community basically has almost raw materials needed for the green products development selected for the cohort and its position situate it very closer to two major markets in Agona and Effiduase. Asamang has four(4) electoral areas constituting six(6) medium-sub communities with about 12,000 to 14,000 locals. The locals are mostly engaged in the farming of Cocoa.

BENEFICIARIES RECRUITMENT EXERCISE

With the new communities selected for cohort 2 of the community green economy project, the project team visited the selected communities namely Ahenbronom, Krotia, Abrouso and Siewuo to register applicants.

Application forms were developed, and on the 13th of January, the applicants were assisted to fill in their details. Fifty (50) applicants were registered during the exercise. With the target of selecting thirty (30) beneficiaries for the program, a selection criterion was developed to grade the applicants to select the most suitable applicants to be the beneficiaries for cohort 2 of the project. The criterion was made to favour low-income youth who demonstrated the passion to be able to develop a business from the training. Based on the criterion, twenty-six applications qualified however based on experience in cohort 1, a standby list of nine near-suitable additional applicants was created to make a total of thirty-five (35) applicants.

All selected applicants were informed of their success in the program however five (5) applicants could not be accepted to be part of the program because;

• Three of them are Senior High School students still in school.
• The other two applicants have relocated Therefore the total number of selected applicants stands at thirty (30).

INTRODUCTORY MEETING

As the Community Green Economy Project advances in the selected communities with recently completed activities on recruitment and beneficiary selection exercises for cohort 2, an introductory session was organized on the 15 of February 2023 at Asamang Community Centre for the first meet-up with the selected beneficiaries, trainers, and other stakeholders, to commence the training journey of the beneficiaries. A total of 30 beneficiaries (all female) and 3 trainers attended the meeting.

This meet-up purposely sought to,

• Officially introduce RUG and the Project to participants
• Introduce trainers and trainees.
• Know the expectations of project beneficiaries.

HARDSKILL TRAINING

On the 20th of February, all hardskill trainings commenced with the expection of Black soap prodcution which commenced on the 22nd of February. All the trainings were completed successfully on the 23rd of February. Twenty-six (26) beneficiaries benefited from the training organized.

At the end of the African black soap training, a task was given to beneficiaries to sell products produced during the training. Also, the snail-farming beneficiaries were given the task to rear the snails in the structure till demo day as a source of learning while working. Beneficiaries for the mushroom farming also tasked to management the mushroom bags they nursed.

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