Mulher Feliz/Happy Women

Amount: € 349,766.00

SOS CEDIA undertook the project with the aim of facilitating the economic empowerment of rural women from the M’banza-Kongo area in the Zaire province of Angola. SOS CEDIA focused on the creation of an enabling environment for women beneficiaries to carry out agricultural activities. In total, 95 hectares of land were brought under cultivation to the benefit of 103 rural women and their dependents by the provincial government to the registered Cooperative “Cooperative de Produccao Agro Pecuaria do Kuzi, R.L.”. On 12th of June 2016 the Minister of Family and Women visited the project jointly with the Local Governor of Zaire Province and provided to the Cooperative 92 hectares of land and the land entitlement.  A local bank, Banco do Sol, established a guarantee fund scheme to provide access to loans for the female cooperative members.

Key Results

Through the economic and legal approach taken by SOS CEDIA, the repatriate poor women who are also head of their households  received national identification book, hence recovered their full citizenship.

The project outcomes include the organisation of beneficiaries into legally recognised agricultural cooperatives, the delivery of agricultural inputs to enhance the efficiency of operations, the provision of technical assistance to improve the quality of post-harvest agricultural products, training sessions in financial management, agricultural organisation of micro enterprises and business management. Additionally, SOS CEDIA facilitated linkages and access to markets for surplus produce.