MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

Entrepreneurship training program

One-line solution summary:

Our project is working to tackle this through building the skills of local farmers to increase their incomes and quality of life.

Pitch your solution.

Despite strides being made in the development status of Ghana, there are still huge inequalities in income, education and food security here. Sunyani-West District, a predominantly agricultural community in the Bono Region of the country, is one of the poorest areas where nearly half the households are food insecure, and where over 33% of people are living below the national poverty line (which is less than USD 0.70 a day). This project will build the skills of farmers – to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of the farming cooperatives. And, by improving the technical agricultural, business and functional literacy skills, it will enable farmers to increase their crop yields. We are training individuals from each village to become literacy facilitators. They will be trained in literacy skills relevant to agriculture, such as crop production, storage, fertilizer measures, pesticide labels, and marketing.

Film your elevator pitch.

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What specific problem are you solving?

Heritage Charity Foundation is working to reduce unemployment among rural women in rural communities by equipping them with entrepreneurship skills training. Despite strides being made in the development status of Ghana, there are still huge inequalities in income, education and food security here. Sunyani-West District, a predominantly agricultural community in the Bono Region of the country, is one of the poorest areas where nearly half the households are food insecure, and where over 33% of people are living below the national poverty line (which is less than USD 0.70 a day). It also has one of the lowest literacy rates, with 75% of the region being non-literate. Our project is working to tackle this through building the skills of local farmers to increase their incomes and quality of life. Poverty, food insecurity and low literacy levels impact women more severely in the district. Women also have limited access to land and are vulnerable to discriminatory attitudes which can hinder their ability to negotiate crop sales and to coordinate production with local buyer demands. Already, a farming cooperative structure exists within the 20 villages we will be working in.

What is your solution?

This project will build the skills of farmers – to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of the farming cooperatives. And, by improving the technical agricultural, business and functional literacy skills, it will enable farmers to increase their crop yields. We are training individuals from each village to become literacy facilitators. They will be trained in literacy skills relevant to agriculture, such as crop production, storage, fertilizer measures, pesticide labels, and marketing. They will then deliver literacy training to groups of 30 over the course of 11 months. Furthermore, we are training individuals from each village in business and financial management as well as network organization and marketing. They are gaining the relevant knowledge and facilitation skills to effectively disseminate learning to their peers, supporting their fellow farmers to increase yields and income. The project will create long-term and sustainable change, by permanently improving household income, which will enable families to be able to spend on education, health care and nutritious foods. The increased economic empowerment of women will also reduce gender inequality relating to education and economic engagement.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our solution serve women small-scale farmers rural communities in the Sunyani-West district.

Heritage Charity Foundation expects the following impact from the project:

At the end of each training phase, 100 women in the Sunyani-West district, would receive relevant skills that would facilitate their farming businesses.
100 businesses would be created by the graduates of this training and also generate jobs for at least 200 other unemployed women who will work with them.
The overall impact of the project is reduction in the rate of unemployment, rural- urban migration and crime.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Enable small and new businesses, especially in untapped communities, to prosper and create good jobs through access to capital, networks, and technology

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Challenge and your selected dimension.

The challenge is about jobs and entrepreneurship which is exactly what this solution is doing.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Odumase, Ghana

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Elizabeth Adikah and Richmond Smith