Thus, the goal of EDI's pilot program for trainers, which began in 1989, was to strengthen the management and marketing capabilities of poor rural women and their counterparts in the informal urban sector. Over five years, scores of women from six developing countries have participated in this unique Grassroots Management Training (GMT) program.
The unique feature of the GMT and the FEFGA (Femmes et Formation en Gestion Appliquée) program is its participatory approach: trainers ask their clients, rural women, to identify the problems they encounter in managing their microenterprises. Based on their responses, the trainers then design programs that meet the needs of these women--consistent with the language, limitations, and terms of their clients.
The Workshop
Last December, as the pilots were nearing completion, the trainers met at a workshop in Washington to share their experiences and discuss their results.
Even though the 21 seasoned trainers who participated in this workshop came from vastly different regions and cultures--Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, and India--they discovered that they often faced similar work experiences and frustrations. For example, the neediest candidates--women who make their living in the informal sector--probably share similar traits, whether they are in India, Burkina Faso, or Malawi. Most likely, they are illiterate or semiliterate women, and often lack the confidence and knowledge required to exploit available resources and legal services.
The workshop participants agreed that it is necessary to design a training program expressly suited to this type of candidate. They discussed ways to work around illiteracy, underscored the need for promoting gender awareness (to recognize the different needs, roles, and responsibilities of women and men) and outlined approaches to monitor and evaluate GMT results.
Lessons Learned
When country teams presented their program plans, both similarities and variations were noted (in terms of strategy, approach, analysis, and the level of interest in networking) among the six GMT programs.
To ensure the program's sustainability after the EDI-sponsored initiative was complete, the Senegalese team successfully involved leaders of women's groups as GMT trainers themselves; the Indian team created its own nongovernment organization (NGO) to coordinate the design and delivery of GMT with several training institutions in different areas of the country; the team from Burkina Faso forged an important link between GMT and the provision of micro credit to women's groups and individual entrepreneurs; the Nigerian team built a "ripple effect" component into its program allowing participants in the EDI-sponsored training opportunities to train other group members; while the teams from Malawi and Tanzania helped to shift the focus of community development workers from domestic skills to women's economic empowerment and business skills. As different as their individual programs were, all six teams worked toward a common goal of building women's skills in managing people, money, and activities. Ultimately, they helped women identify new markets for their products, and provided marketing advice to ensure that the women could improve their living standards.
Results
Overall, women's groups benefited from GMT in many ways, and their businesses were found to be better organized and managed after they had been trained. Typically, evaluators noted that businesses kept better accounts, diversified their products, had more effective marketing strategies, and were more profitable than other similar groups in the village.
Women's individual businesses also improved as a result of GMT. On their own initiative, many women began to take advantage of existing revolving funds to help them finance their projects, as well as identify new sources of credit.
Participating in GMT workshops motivated many participants to attend functional literacy classes, an added plus, which contributed not only to their confidence levels, but also to their economic and social status in the community.
Although still a little skeptical, Mr. Mondjanagni conceded in the end that the program and the FEFGA approach were successful. "It is a valid approach. You have succeeded in getting women involved in getting them to speak up, and find their own way."
Looking Ahead
Although the workshop marked the end of the pilot phase for two of the six EDI GMT pilots, this training is far from over. Since the workshop, many of the trainers have met again in Tunis, Tunisia, to discuss Participatory Approaches to Grassroots Management Training and Outreach. Plans are also under way to formalize a network of GMT practitioners to facilitate continued collaboration. Finally, EDI hopes to introduce the GMT approach in the Middle East and North Africa region, where governments, NGOs, civil servants, consultants, and trainers will be encouraged to adapt GMT programs of their own on behalf of poor and disadvantaged women.
Jerri Dell is the Women in Development Coordinator in EDI's Human Resources and Poverty (EDIHR) division.
The women in this group were asked to invest 2,000 FCFA (the equivalent of US $4) each month, as well as buy a membership card for another 250 FCFA (about 20 cents). With these funds, the group was able to buy some land for their farming activities. They also bought bricks and built a canteen to help them generate more income. Small loans were made to group members from the dues collected through this informal credit facility. At the end of three months, members who had borrowed money were required to repay their loans with interest.
Since she started working with the women's management training program, Fatou Sega has trained close to one thousand women. In formal training sessions and during meetings conducted by others, she has taught women simple bookkeeping skills, the basics of marketing and money management, the value of saving, and the importance of separating business and personal expenses. So successful were her efforts with FEFGA that she was recruited by OXFAM, a U.K.-based NGO, to take charge of one of their projects.
Fatou Sega attributes many changes to FEFGA. With the money she earned, she was able to feed her family, buy some furniture for her two-room house, and is saving to buy the goat she would like to have for Tabasci (a Muslim holiday in Africa). When asked what FEFGA has given her, she responded quickly: "Security. A vision of tomorrow".
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