Rotary is running the theme Economic and Community Development this month to bring our attention to how Rotarians can make economic opportunities, vocational training and improved social services count as tools for community development. A large percentage of our population that live below the poverty line are farmers, petty traders and artisans. Globally, Rotarians have shown the determination to reduce poverty through projects that deliver equipment, vocational training, and work to strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, from impoverished communities.

Rotary showcases several examples of these practical interventions that we can learn from to make the greatest possible impact with our time, energy, and resources.

• The Rotary Club of Abuja, Nigeria, carried out three months of training for 30 internally displaced women who were trained in sewing clothes, and at the end of the program, the best participants received sewing machines, tools, and other necessities. The club also helped the best participants find jobs in the sewing industry.
• The Rotary Club of Addis Ababa West, Ethiopia, offered vocational training to local participants, who attended a workshop on marketable businesses and management training. Then, they chose further training in a single vocation, such as hairdressing, sewing, food preparation, and video and photo editing. Government offices and private institutions trained them for two to five months. Afterward, participants received start-up tools, equipment, and supplies to begin their own business ventures.

Farmers within District 9102 encounter similar geo-hazards such as soil erosion, poor soil fertility in their toil to produce crops for consumption and for sale. Moreover, there is considerable post-harvest losses sometimes in the region of 50% for perishable farm products. Here are a couple of ideas we can consider as projects:

• Improved and more efficient smoking devices for our women along the coast so that they can have a higher throughput of smoked fish.
• Tricycles for the famers so they can carry more from the farms and get harvests to buying centres
• Solar ovens for drying and preservation of products.
• Skills development and business training to help them with basic understanding of business management and financial controls.

Most of the people in this category are unable to raise capital and do not have the resources to pose collateral security to obtain loans from financial institutions. Rotary has the ability to transform such people and their communities by providing them with training, equipment and tools in their occupations. Whereas we are unable to give them financial assistance, our material contributions in kind can lift them above the poverty line which can make all the difference in their lives and the future.

Clubs in the district have been concentrating on broad based service projects in education, health, water and sanitation strategies as a means of contributing to our communities but we should now consider interventions in opportunities that enhances entrepreneurship and the productive workforce in their income generating activities to counter the cycle of poverty.

JEFFREY AFFUL
District Governor
District 9102