A total of 161 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) members in agri-businesses of women and youth in the Sidama Region of Ethiopia have undergone a four-day Training of Enterprise training in business continuity coaching based on the ILO Start and Improve Your Businesses (SIYB) training modules. These 161 SMEs members are part of the 200 SMEs supported by the ILO ProAgro Ethiopia Project under the Invest for Jobs initiative of BMZ. These small businesses range from individual to group based businesses of youth in the priority value chains - fruits and vegetables, and poultry production.
Samuel Philipos, who is part of a five-member small poultry business of 1000 chickens stated “We had initial training before taking the loan to start our poultry business, but that training was very short; we sometimes faced challenges on how to get market, and negotiate our prices. I am now confident, and I will encourage record keeping, start other savings, and plan to expand our business. We thank ILO ProAgro Ethiopia for giving us professionals in business training that will continue to guide us”.
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The youth entrepreneurs were trained on four business management topics: Marketing, Buying and Stock Control, Record Keeping, and Business Planning. The pre-training needs assessment revealed that about 10% of the businesses were on the verge of shutting down due to a lack of know-how to navigate the challenges of input supply, and understanding of changing market conditions. The engagement also assisted the groups in considering comparative approaches to build their bargaining power in pricing, access to inputs, and especially the need for longer leases of land which is a major issue for the businesses in the value chains.
| | In his remarks to close the event, Kefyalew Kebede, Deputy Bureau Head, Jobs and Skills Development, Sidama Region appreciated the collaboration with the ILO ProAgro Ethiopia project in building entrepreneurship skills in creating more decent jobs in the region. He pledged the government’s commitment to addressing the problem of access to land and offered spaces for groups in the market centers to sell their products. The official also pledged to negotiate interest rates for borrowers from local micro institutions to ease the burden of repayment. |
The Sidama region is an agriculture-based economy, producing over 60% of the country's fruits and vegetables that feed the emerging agro-procesing industries in the catchment area. This provides a great potential for developing the value chains to generate self employment for youth and women and address poverty and the traps of irregular migrations.
