Elizabeth Shafohamba
Members of the community, particularly those with micro-enterprises, can embrace change, develop their skills, and participate in activities that will have a significant impact on their lives in a variety of ways.
One such method is skills development training. Possessing the necessary skills provides microbusinesses with new opportunities to increase productivity and thus compete. Income-generating activities are those that allow communities to use local resources to generate revenue for independent small- and informal-business owners in urban and rural settings.
This is significant because it decentralizes opportunities for economic empowerment for those who previously did not have them. It’s also encouraging because community empowerment centers are located in areas where they can make the most difference.
Many stakeholders in Namibia provide training to prospective project owners of income-generating activities (IGAs). Despite the shortcomings, 35% of funded IGAs are making progress, resulting in lower demand for both goods and services as financial difficulties worsen as a result of Covid-19.
Though some had regained their strength and were now picking up. More can be done to provide microentrepreneurs with sector-specific mentoring services and consistent follow-up.
We must recognise that these people are microentrepreneurs whose ability to expand their businesses is jeopardised. We’ve noticed that microbusinesses frequently make costly mistakes when attempting to expand because they lack the necessary knowledge.
The program empowers small business owners by teaching them business management skills, providing machinery and equipment, particularly to underprivileged women and men in rural areas, and providing them with a platform to showcase their talents and skills. Ongoing monitoring is carried out to ensure the initiatives’ survival, development, and sustainability.
To date, nearly 1 649 IGAs have received material and equipment support across the country, with 70% of them being women and 30% being men. Potential recipients must be Namibian residents aged 18 and up, have a current business, and have a simple business strategy, among other requirements. IGAs that can be funded include small-scale manufacturing, agribusiness, food processing and fabrication, cultural culture, and service-oriented services.
The obvious and widely accepted assumption is that skill development training has both short- and long-term effects on life-course patterns, at least on the individual’s career and pay. Skills development training is primarily provided to poor rural women and men in order for them to be able to teach others in their respective rural areas. Some of the advantages of skill development training are as follows:
Reduces unemployment: training assists recipients in acquiring the necessary knowledge, regardless of their level of expertise. Small-medium counterparts with both expertise and inexperience will share more of their newly acquired skills and knowledge with their unskilled business counterparts. As the training integrates with the project owner’s day-to-day activities, an expert explains how the skills they are gaining can be applied practically to improve and advance their performance.
Productivity increases as a result of internal talent development: By preventing minor errors, encouraging new employees, revitalizing existing skills, and imparting new skills while increasing satisfaction and inspiring new employees, training project owners in current production and technical abilities increases productivity.
Similarly, technical support ensures that beneficiaries receive ongoing coaching to improve support and customer satisfaction.
Improves quality of life: Inequality and poverty are exacerbated by a lack of skills. When done properly, skill development can reduce underemployment, increase productivity, and improve living and self-sufficiency standards. It makes economic sense to help people broaden and update their skill sets.
Morel claims that “combinations of livelihood training and adult literacy education help improve the living conditions of the poor.” There is a well-known “empowerment effect,” in which beneficiaries gain increased confidence and social resources, allowing them to act to improve their living conditions.
Providing equal employment allocation opportunities: By ensuring that jobs are offered based on skill acquisition while reducing underemployment. Business colleagues are outfitted, preventing them from working less than full-time, on a regular basis, or insufficiently. Individuals will not be exploited because the workforce will be based on technical skills and abilities after beneficiaries have been trained and hired based on their knowledge and abilities.
In addition, a lack of information and access to social media, as well as remoteness and inability to read contributes to insufficient utilisation of available resources. People in rural areas, in general have less access to information and thus use it less.
Communities are encouraged to contact nearby regional, constituency offices or listen to and read local media to stay up to date on important and useful information. “Learning is an adventure. Everything else is just data.”
*Elizabeth Shafohamba is a Master’s in Adult Education student at the University of Namibia, who is interested in community skills development trainings.