Entrepreneurship Development

General Information

Institution:

Centre for Enterprise Development Inc

Country:

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Contact person:

Jacintha James

Position:

Programme officer

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

(1-784) 451-2235/6

Website of the program:

http://www.cedsvg.com

Which of the following topic(s) applies to the program?:

Topics:

EMPLOYMENT

Support to micro, small and medium enterprises and other production units

Employment policies and programs

Program Description

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Description:

The project entitled ‘Reducing Rural Poverty through Entrepreneurship Development’ was conceptualized under the OAS theme ‘Social Development and the Creation of Productive Employment’. The goal of the project was to stimulate economic activities and develop human resources in the rural community in order to increase household income and reduce poverty. An analysis of the needs of rural communities was done based primarily from feedback from workshop participants and facilitators. Consequently, it was decided that there was a need for further intervention in rural communities and that this should not just involve training but should also provide financial assistance in the form of grant funding to some participants who had viable projects/business ideas and who pursued the required training in business and entrepreneurship education. Particular attention was paid to ensuring that both men and women participated in the project and had equal opportunities to receive funding. Youth were also encouraged to participate. Consultations were done with communities selected to benefit from the project to determine most suitable time for training, identify participants for the training programme, suitable venue for conducting training. The communities were fully responsible for mobilising participants and securing the training venues.

Objectives:

1. Creation of viable businesses to generate income and wealth for rural residents; 2. Stimulation of economic activities in rural communities to provide employment opportunities; 3. Capacity building of rural residents through training in business and entrepreneurship; 4. Provision of Business Development Services (BDS) in rural communities to eliminate travel to Kingstown for such services; 5. Training of trainers to facilitate delivery of Business Development Services (BDS) in rural communities.

Year of Start:

Before 2010

Estimated duration:

1 to 2 years

Geographic coverage:

Provincial or subnational

Target population:

Other

Other:

Rural communities

Evaluation and Documentation

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Describe the program's most important achievements and lessons learned:

Achievements
• Holding of community consultations to identify needs and business opportunities • 35 individuals from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Social Development, Department of Adult and Continuing Education, Ministry of Rural Transformation and some community based organisations have developed their capacity to advise and assist rural entrepreneurs. • 95 entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in 5 communities have improved their capacity to successfully operate a business through training in Business and Entrepreneurship. • 5 rural Business Development Centres were established. Each centre is equipped with one (1) computer and one (1) printer/photocopier and a quantity of business/entrepreneurship texts. • Employment has been created for an additional resident of the community through the Centre. • 13 persons received grants to start a new business or expand and existing business. These businesses create opportunities for employment for the owners and other residents.
Lessons
• It’s important to involve communities when designing projects to benefit them • Pooling of stakeholder resources increases the chance of the project succeeding and bring greater benefits to residents

Describe the challenges of the program:

Documentation and liaising with communities

Specify if the program has any internal and external evaluations, if applicable, include key findings:

Internal: Yes
Some project activities are outstanding therefore an end of project evaluation has not been done. However, based on the stated project objectives and activities, it can be said that the project was a success. The attendance at the Entrepreneurial Training in 1 community was particularly disappointing. All other communities showed a high level of interest.

External: Yes