Entrepreneurship & Business Management Training
The women and men in the community have requested URF to provide training in business skills to enable them become efficient in their business ventures. With this training they will be able to use the funds borrowed from the village bank efficiently and run successful businesses. The program will consist of intensive week-long sessions of instruction each month for three months with certificates awarded at end of the training.
URF believes that empowering people through business skills development is one of the best way to ensure real sustainable development for Africa. You have to help people identify business opportunities within their communities and be able to generate their own income rather than relying on charity which simply perpetrates a cycle of dependence.
In August through October, 2010, URF in collaboration with four students, Chelsea and Justin Embry, and Leslie and Casey Stettler, conducted an entrepreneurship and small business management training course for rural farmers in Kyetume and surrounding villages.
Over 150 women, women, and youth participated in the training. The classes focuses on basics of business planning, budgeting, market dynamics, savings, bank
loans, and how to analyse business opportunities in the area.
URF runs a successful village bank from which members borrow small loans. The community, especially members of the village bank, had requested that URF provide them training in business skills so they could be able to utilize the loans efficiently and run successful businesses. The majority of the population served by the village bank is illiterate or semi-literate which makes it more challenging in business management.
More business classes will be offered at the beginning of 2011 and also in the summer of the same year. All participants who successfully complete the course receive a certificate.