Support for Women in Micro Enterprise

Objectives

To empower 100 women from the three target communities with micro credit for business expansion and diversification within the period 12 months.

 Target Beneficiaries

Kula, Idama and Elem-Ifoko are all coastal/riverine communities in Rivers State. Both Kula and Idama communities are in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of the State, while Elem-Ifoko is located in Degema Local Government Area.

Background/Summary

The Support for Women In Micro-enterprise (SWIM) program is an initiative aimed at increasing the income generating potentials of women micro entrepreneurs in our communities of operation who have limited resources to function in their different livelihoods.

The SWIM program was piloted on women micro entrepreneurs who specialize in fish/sea foods business in some of our communities of operation in Rivers State.  

The program was aimed at increasing the income generating potentials of these women through the provision of improved processing technologies, adequate storage facilities as well as linkage to supply chains for local and export market.

The program was concentrated in three coastal communities in Rivers State namely; Kula, Idama and Elem-Ifoko as majority of the people of these communities (natives and settlers) are engaged in fishing.  Fishing contributes to over 70% of sources of income and work to over 60% of the households in these areas.

The pilot SWIM program received funding support from the Chevron Corporation under its I3E (Initiative Triple E: ‘Engage – Execute – Empower’) program. Chevron is committed to supporting the economic and social development of the people. This describes the company’s partnership with Accord through financial support for the SWIM project in three communities (Kula, Idama and Elem-Ifoko) neighbouring Chevron’s operations in Rivers State.

The I3E (Initiative Triple E: ‘Engage – Execute – Empower’) is an initiative designed by the Chevron Corporation to support people within their communities of operation through the provision of micro projects.

Achievement/ Impact/Change

The SWIM project has impacted positively on the beneficiaries across the three communities. The introduction to a more effective and efficient technology of fish/seafood preservation and processing had a tremendous impact on their livelihood activities. The beneficiaries were introduced to the fish smoking kiln and a multipurpose seafood processor to aid their businesses.

Project Duration 

January 2012 – December 2012.

Partner (Donor)

Chevron Corporation’s I3E

Success Stories 

The smoking kiln introduced is a local innovative and better technology for fish processing and preservation. The source of energy is coal that produces heat to dry the fish. It saves energy and because the smoke introduced is minimal, the carbon content on the fish is reduced.

Geographical Location

South-South Region, Rivers State