The 3rd ICA-MAFF (Govt. of Japan) online Training Course on “Empowerment of Rural Women for Improvement of their Leadership and Business Management in Asia and Africa-2022” concluded in September.
The Training Course was held in two parts – Part-I in collaboration with the Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune, India, from 1 to 10 August and Part-II in collaboration with the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA) from 22 August to 15 September. The objective of the training course was to assist the capacity building of rural women and enhance their business management abilities for more organized activities and participation in agribusiness in Asia and Africa.
12 women from India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda participated in the training. Of these, 10 represented ICA members and 2 the World Farmers' Organization.
Subjects covered in Part-I were financial management, digital literacy, agribusiness and food processing - opportunities for women entrepreneurship, women's leadership in business, sustainable agriculture and environmental management, among others. In Part-II, subjects included strategy for sustainable food systems, Japanese female farmers in agro-food value chain, and agricultural production in response to climate change, etc. Subject matter experts from Japan supported the participants in preparing their action plans that they are expected to undertake after the training. Lectures were designed in a manner that participants could brainstorm via group discussions and share learnings with each other.
The closing ceremony of Part-II held on 15 September and was attended by Mr. Baba Toshihiko, Senior Executive Director, Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu), Mr. Kobayashi Hirofumi, Executive Director, IDACA, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP, Mr. Ashok Taneja and Ms. Simren Singh from ICA-AP and Ms. Oshita San and Ms. Miho Togaki from IDACA along with all participants. Mr. Hirofumi congratulated participants for completing the training course and awarded them certificates.
