Summary
Livelihoods in the Anosy region were traditionally based on farming or fishing for subsistence. Fort Dauphin urban commune is the urban centre of the Anosy region. The population in this small town has exploded in recent years as a consequence of rapid population growth and immigration from surrounding rural areas.
Given
the very limited secondary or tertiary industry in the South
East, the generally low level of education of the population and the
lack of vocational training facilities, it is no surprise that unemployment
has also risen steadily. Only a small proportion of the workforce
in Fort Dauphin receives regular monetary wages, impacting negatively
on the population and the regional economy. Women are particularly
disadvantaged, with the concept of gender equality barely known
in Madagascar until recently. Many women left school at an early age
and the vast majority work in the home rather than in income generating
activities.
In 2005 Azafady was awarded £25,000 of funding to extend our award-winning rural livelihoods training initiative into the Urban Commune. Funding enabled the construction of permanent training facilities and a curriculum was piloted which aimed to teach men and women, many with little formal education, skills which could be turned into regular, sustainable income-generating activities. We found that our training courses were accessed by a high number of women, which is very important given women’s role as household manager with responsibility for the family wellbeing. We therefore developed this project to respond further to the needs of women in the Fort Dauphin urban commune, with further livelihood training opportunities for individuals and associations as well as offering assistance for trainees in setting up small enterprises.
Project Aims
To contribute to the implementation of the Madagascar Action Plan Engagement Commitment 3 (Education), challenge 4 ‘to develop vocational training’, under which the establishment of vocational training targeting priority sectors such as textiles, tourism and ICT are the responsibility of the Ministry for Education.
To contribute to the implementation of the Madagascar Action Plan Engagement Commitment 6 (Economy), challenge 3 ‘to promote full employment’ which stresses the building of local skills adapted to the opportunities of the region Project Purpose: To alleviate poverty, enhance quality of life and build towards gender equality for women in the Anosy region through building capacity of marginalised women to engage in income generating activity.
Project Purpose
To alleviate poverty, enhance quality of life and build towards gender equality for women in the Anosy region through building capacity of marginalised women to engage in income generating activity.
Objectives
Improved capacity of urban women to increase household income through livelihood diversification.
Training attendees utilize the skills they have learned to become established in enterprise, through cottage industries and associations and in the formal job market.
Improved capacity of the female population of Fort Dauphin to help themselves, as through appreciation of the concept of gender equality in conjunction with practical working knowledge and expertise.
Principal Activities
Vocational training & literacy Practical training courses are held in skills that women of all levels of education can access. Enabling them to diversify livelihoods, generate income or seek paid employment with a business in town - artisan, tailoring, food processing, IT, English language and literacy. Language courses are also available to male students, since this is a priority skill sought by contractors of a new English-speaking mining development in Fort Dauphin.
Institutional development
Educational workshops established in setting up and managing associations
and in simple accounting to build capacity of women and women’s
associations to establish small enterprises. Manuals produced
in the local dialect to support some of the training courses
have been distributed to attendees, trainers and the Ministry of Education.
Small grants
Small grants are provided to cover enterprise start-up costs
for 40 women and women’s
associations who have attended the capacity-building workshops.
