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Cooperating Out of Poverty:
Cooperatives and Enterprise Promotion in East Africa – Malawi,
Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Tanzania and Rwanda
26.4.2015-20.5.2015
Program Objective
How can we reduce rural poverty?
In much of the world, rural agricultural communities are condemned to poverty,
unable to access the new ideas, resources and funding required to implement
dynamic, market-driven “new agriculture”. These ideas, which originate in major
institutional centres, utilize technological innovations and create new roles for the
state, private actors, and for people centered enterprises. Using a combination of
agriculture and non-agricultural micro and small enterprises (SME), communities
can lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty. The challenge is to include
smallholders in agricultural growth and to benefit the rural poor through agricultural
and rural non-farm employment.
Cooperatives and Rural Development
The United Nations through its specialized agencies, specifically FAO and ILO,
often recommends the cooperative enterprise as the agent most suitable to promote
rural development in all its dimensions: opportunity, empowerment and security.
The World Cooperative Movement organized under its umbrella institution –
International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) – partners with international development
agencies such as MASHAV via NISPED to promote the cooperative business
model.
In eastern Africa, MASHAV-NISPED also partners with the Swedish Cooperative
Movement represented by the Swedish Cooperative Center (SCC). For the past
three years, MASHAV and NISPED have collaborated with the SCC on capacity
development programs.
Through their involvement in all sectors of the economy, cooperatives represent a
means for people to identify and exploit opportunities. For instance, cooperatives
enable farmers to achieve and enjoy economies of scale in purchasing inputs and
marketing produce. Furthermore, cooperatives are important forms of social capital
that empower community self-help action that may take off into a process of
sustainable human development. Cooperative democratic organization encourages
active membership participation thus helping people help themselves.
Cooperatives allow people to convert individual risks into collective risks thus
reducing vulnerability both on an individual and household level. People throughout
the world have organized cooperatives in order to meet their needs in a wide variety
of endeavors: agricultural co-ops, consumer co-ops, cooperatives providing health
and education services, as well as cooperatives created to promote new business
initiatives and create decent employment opportunities.
Most cooperatives are small or medium enterprises. In fact, in many rural areas,
SME development and cooperative development often involve the same processes.
This course will deal in detail with these issues and with the best ways of
establishing and managing cooperative/SME enterprise development. The course
program will draw on the Israeli rural development experience as well as examples
of international best practices, and will analyze systems developed in terms of their
adaptability to participating country representatives.
Participants will have the opportunity to formulate ideas and policies which may be
applicable to their own countries, while sharing experiences with colleagues from
other African countries.
Program
The course includes frontal lectures, workshops, study visits to relevant institutions
and organizations as well as three days of cultural and historic tours. The language
of instruction will be English. The main topics to be covered include:
 Strategies of development
 Agricultural developments in the 21st century
 Contribution of SMEs and cooperatives to the economy, society and the
individual
 The role of SMEs and cooperatives in rural development
 Leadership and management in rural communities
 Appropriate agricultural policy in the era of globalization
 Post-harvest processing and marketing cooperatives
 Micro-finance and rural development
 Effective rural extension services
 Establishing and managing comprehensive support systems for SMEs and
cooperatives - the central and local/regional levels
 Local/regional-level Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs)
 Regional cooperation as a strategy of rural development
 Entrepreneurship in contemporary agriculture
 Integrating financial and non-financial(consulting, training) support measures
 Linking rural producers to global markets
 The role of local, regional and national governments in successful rural
development
Program Site
The program will be held in Beit Yatziv in Beer Sheba, the capital of the Negev
(southern Israel). Participants will reside in double rooms (2 per room) equipped
with air conditioning.
Health Insurance
Medical insurance covers medical services and hospitalization in case of emergency.
It does not cover the treatment of chronic diseases, dental care other than first aid,
or repair of eyeglasses. Candidates using specific medications on a regular basis
must bring sufficient quantities for the duration of their stay.
Applications
The course is designed for participants from a range of Eastern African countries:
Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and
Ethiopia. The International Co-operative Alliance Nairobi office will be responsible
for the recruitment of the course participants. Appropriate candidates will submit
their applications to ICA offices for onward submission to the relevant Israeli
embassy for interviews and visa application.
Application forms can be obtained from Israeli diplomatic or consular
representatives in the candidate’s country. Applications must be submitted no later
than 20 February, 2015.
Scholarship
Mashav scholarship will be provided to the selected participants for the coverage of
all tuition fees, meals, lodging and local travel. The scholarship does not cover
any airfare cost.
Passport and Visa
Passports must be valid for at least six months from the opening day of the course.
Applicants must submit an official visa application form. The dates and flight
numbers for the return trip to and from Israel must be confirmed before arrival.
Travel
Participants should book seats on the Ethiopian Airways flight ET404, departing
Addis Ababa at 23.00 on 25 April 2015 and arriving in Tel Aviv at 02.40 the
following morning, and flight ET405, leaving Tel Aviv at 00.10 on 21 May 2015
and arriving in Addis Ababa 05.50 that morning. If taking alternative routes,
participants should aim to arrive and depart from Tel Aviv at around the same time,
to facilitate transfer.
About MASHAV
Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, known as MASHAV in
its Hebrew acronym, was founded in 1958 as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It is responsible for initiating and implementing Israel's development cooperation
program worldwide. MASHAV aims to transfer the expertise and technologies
which have assisted Israel in its own path to development to other countries. Today,
Israel cooperates with over 140 countries, providing training in Israel and abroad,
operating on-site demonstration projects and building medical infrastructure in
partner countries. MASHAV is active in fields ranging from agriculture to medicine
and from community development to entrepreneurship.
About NISPED
The Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development
NISPED serves as a center for education, training, and project development for
societies undergoing fundamental processes of transformation. These processes
include transition from conflict to conflict resolution; from centralized to free
market economies; from poverty and dependence to socio-economic advancement.
Negev Institute
Yehuda Hanahtom 5 Beersheva
Phone 972-8-6711551
E-mail:
[email protected]
Web-site: www.nisped.org.il
Co-Executive Directors: Ariel Dloomy, Kher Albaz