The Challenges:
While it is a common misconception that economic empowerment is primarily achieved through income generating, there are other important factors that play a role in economic empowerment. According to GENDERNET (2011), "economic
empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to
and benefit from growth processes in ways which recognize the value of their
contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer
distribution of the benefits of growth." This implies that in order to ensure women's economic empowerment, one must consider obstacles which women face that hinder them from accessing productive resources such as water and land, capital such as loans and alternative financing, wage-employment, education, and other social services. Access to these viable resources and services is crucial in creating an enabling environment for women in which they can generate an income in a respectable and sustainable way. Challenges such as gender-based violence (GBV), harassment at the workplace, social and cultural expectations of women, HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination, and more general gender roles which are often deeply embedded into Malawi's society can be a hindrance in achieving the above mentioned. Other obstacles in successfully participating and benefiting from the economic growth process are closely linked to low-self esteem, little aspirations, and a general lack of scope of the world or bigger picture of what life could look like under different circumstances (OXFAM, 2014).
Youth are facing similar challenges; due to reasons of poverty, early marriage and child bearing, and pressure from family members and community often force people to drop out of school young. Puberty has been found to be a turning point for man young girls, and a time where they might opt to stay home instead of attending school due to inadequate facilities, embarrassment, or fear. While primary school is mandatory, and subsidized by the government, secondary school can often take a financial strain on families. Fees, in addition to costs for uniforms, school supplies, etc. often result in parents/guardians withdrawing their children from school and sometimes involve them in piece work to support the family's livelihood. Once withdrawn from school, individuals are unlikely to return back to school. Without adequate education, employment opportunities are limited and people often have to resort to doing whatever can such as buying and selling on the street or local markets.
Youth are facing similar challenges; due to reasons of poverty, early marriage and child bearing, and pressure from family members and community often force people to drop out of school young. Puberty has been found to be a turning point for man young girls, and a time where they might opt to stay home instead of attending school due to inadequate facilities, embarrassment, or fear. While primary school is mandatory, and subsidized by the government, secondary school can often take a financial strain on families. Fees, in addition to costs for uniforms, school supplies, etc. often result in parents/guardians withdrawing their children from school and sometimes involve them in piece work to support the family's livelihood. Once withdrawn from school, individuals are unlikely to return back to school. Without adequate education, employment opportunities are limited and people often have to resort to doing whatever can such as buying and selling on the street or local markets.
Our Opportunities:
The reason for the lack of economic empowerment of women and youth in Malawi's society cannot be blamed on one single issue but rather a number of complexities made of up cultural, traditional, political, and societal believes and practices. While these challenges are often deeply rooted and difficult to tackle without large-scale interventions, progress can be made by fully comprehending the different obstacles and concentrating on systemic issues hindering women and youth from achieving full economic empowerment.
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WOFAD's role as a small-scale local organization is thus to engage women and youth in interventions focusing on income-generating activities, vocational skills training, and confidence building activities. In addition, we collaborate with other organizations focusing on similar issues which are able to support us through capacity building, resources, and establishing partnerships within the private sector.
Economic Empowerment Projects:
Mango-Drier Initiative
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WOFAD has reviously received a Food Drier machine as a donation from the University of Lilongwe. The machine was installed at our office and started as an income-generating activity for WOFAD women. A group of women visited the office on a regular basis to sort the fruits, process them, and dry them. The fruits, mostly mangoes, were then packaged and sold at local markets and events. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding and packaging issues the Mango-Drier Project has come to a halt.
After a feasibility assessment done by one of our WUSC volunteers we have decided to begin fundraising again and re-start the business in 2015. With the help of Enactus England, and a group of passionate and enthusiastic business, marketing, and engineering students, WOFAD has begun planning and developing this viable business idea. This time, we are looking at improved mechanisms in order to improve quality and efficiency. The engineering students have developed ideas of using solar mango driers constructed out of food and systematically placed panels in order to dry the mangoes evenly. The construction of the driers is currently under way as well as the sourcing of packaging materials and labeling options. If you would like to know more about this project, and how to support it, please contact us directly |
Piggery Pass-on
A piggery was constructed at the WOFAD office in order to establish this Piggery Pass-on Program for vulnerable and impoverished women. The main goal to to empower women economically and create an income-generating activity. The program
began with providing 45 women with piglets who raised them and eventually passed on new piglets to the next women. To date, a total of 147 women
have been provided with piglets.
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Permaculture and Herbal Medicine
This self-help initiative used permaculture to empower
communities and develop a more sustainable way of living. The goals were
development of positive mindsets towards nature and enabling women to
effectively use locally available resources for personal consumption as well as income generating. Women were able to improve nutrition
by establishing herbal gardens and transfer skills and knowledge to other women.
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Village Savings and Loans (VSL)
A total of 20 women are involved in the Village Savings and Loans (VSL) program. Each of the women contribute to the funds and are able withdraw a loan to be repaid at an agreed upon interest rate. The small loans are intended to assist individuals with various needs and setting up small scale businesses. At the end of the year, the women divide the contributions and accumulated interest.
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Hand-in-Hand
Read the Full Story of this project
If you want to support this project, click here
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Hand in Hand is a project developed for and by the Group Therapy members. This project uses a holistic, bottom-up approach by considering the specific needs and challenges of the target beneficiaries. In groups of 5, the women have begun planning their own small group enterprises. Through WOFAD they are receiving technical and financial assistance to ensure the success of their businesses. The aim of the project is to ensure sustainable economic empowerment for women, and as such the women have been involved in the planning of activities since day one. Training in business and basic financial management has been facilitated and business plans and budgets have been developed. The women are being supported in the process of finding markets, understanding roles and responsibilities of each member and marketing themselves as women entrepreneurs. Each group has collectively decided on a different trading business while considering competition, demand, and cost. As a small initiative, this project will also serve as a pilot-project for future WOFAD projects and programming.
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