32 Training for Improvement of Business and Project Skills of Women in Rural Areas

Donor: USAID/Sida project FARMA

Economic development and support to rural women often fail to recognize the specific obstacles that women face while accessing assistance schemes like local and entity government subventions, training, consulting as well as matching grants for farmers. All the above mentioned assistance schemes are dedicated to agri-businesses in general, but role of rural women in that sector is very poor, and they do not benefit equally as men. Despite the fact that most of them are involved in agricultural activities in their daily life, they lack the know-how and access to markets and also the financial means to invest and develop their farming business. While this fact is recognized by the government and other supporting institutions, only very limited support targets specifically women both in rural development in general and in agribusiness in particular. When women do start their own businesses, they often face the problem of the sustainability of their businesses. The reality is, in order to make businesses sustainable, women also need to build their assertiveness skills, in order to feel confident in their decision-making role in a traditionally male-dominated society. ACED’s experience from previous projects, involving rural women, shows that education in business planning and project proposal development is one of the priority interests of rural women. The knowledge and skills in this area give an excellent opportunity for rural women to develop their own agricultural businesses that can significantly improve their household’s income, as well as improve their position in their living environment, rural communities, and agricultural sector in general.

The overall goal of this activity is to develop business and project knowledge and skills of women in rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus to improve and expand their business and development opportunities.
The specific objectives of this activity are
1) To improve understanding and skills of selected beneficiaries (rural women) in the field of business planning and business plan development.
2) To build the capacities of selected beneficiaries (rural women) in the field of project proposal development for various grant opportunities.

This goal will be achieved though:
– Intensive trainings on business planning and business plan development, as well as on appropriate project proposal writing to various donors;
– Support to the development of business plans and project proposals based on the ideas of project beneficiaries;
– Support in application of developed ideas to various business and project financing opportunities;

Target beneficiaries will be rural women involved in agricultural business, as individuals or members of cooperatives and associations, engaged in the following sub-sectors: dairy, fruit & vegetables, and medicinal and aromatic plants. In total, 40 women will participate in proposed training sessions