LVD - Agricultural Support Centers for Women

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Agricultural Service Centers is a 24-months long intervention to improve the socio-economic well-being of women in the rural Egyptian Governorate of el-Minya. The action is built upon a tried and tested model first initiated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 1989 under the title of “Farmer Field Schools” and is in favor of empowering local communities through group-based experiential learning processes that enable participants to make their own locally specific decisions about farm management practices. Not only is the outcome ecologically beneficial, it also encourages self-development among participants who begin to appreciate the autonomy accorded to them through empowerment. Our Agricultural Service Center thus goes beyond the mere provision of on-farm training and advisory services to include within their purview the delivery of basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills trainings to endow women with the necessary competencies for success in life. Finally, an outreach and advocacy effort will run concurrent to the economic empowerment and personal development track to encourage open-minded members of the community to take a more proactive stance to dismantling the obstacles standing between impoverished women and prosperity. The duration of the project work plan is 24 months. The project is in progress. It has been approved and is partially funded by the European Aid. The cooperation of the Finnish embassy is sought for the 2nd year which is starting May 2014 till April 2015.