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Practice Details

Title of Practice:	Capacity Building Training for 50 Artisanal Cooperatives in South Lebanon
Year:	2012
BPTag:	Promising Practice
Reference Number:	LBN359-12
City / Town / Village:	South Lebanon
Region:	Africa & Arab States
Country:	Lebanon
Has this practice been submitted previously?	No
Previous Title:
Address:	Atayeb Al Rif Cooperative Delta Center, 3rd Floor Sin El Fil Lebanon Telephone number: 00961-3-335854
Name of Contact Person:	May Traboulsy
Email of Contact Person:	atayebrif@yahoo.com
Summary:	Women in Lebanon,especially in rural areas, are often subject to various constraints that limit their entrepreneurial capabilities in the market place. Those constraints include socio-cultural ones in a patriarchal society, economic ones that discourage women as income generation actors and often hamper their progress towards practicing their right in being productive human beings similar to their male peers. This capacity building project for 50 artisanal cooperatives in South Lebanon focused on three main areas: (1) customized assessment and training of coops with the development of 1-2 exquisite products for each group; (2) the development of a regional quality control center to assist the testing, labeling and packaging of coop products; and (3) the development of sustainable market presence through links with the private sector at the local and nationallevel.
Key Dates:	October 5th 2010 - Start of the project April 5th 2011 - End of the project 27, 28 October 2011 - Liban en France exhibition in Paris - direct consequence of the project and great success for the cooperatives involved
Norminating Organization Details
Name of Organization:
Contact Person:
Type of Organization:	Non-Governmental Organisation

Partners:

Name of Organization	Address	Contact Person	Organisation Type	Type of Support
United Nations Development Program Lebanon	Riad El Solh Street Beirut Lebanon Telephone: + 961-1-962500 Fax: + 961-1-962491	Not provided, registry @undp.org.lb	International Agency	Technical Support

Category
Economic Development
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
Poverty Reduction

Narrative:

Situation Before the Initiative Began:

Women in Lebanon, especially in rural areas, are often subject to various constraints that limit their entrepreneurial capabilities in the marketplace. Those constraints include socio-cultural ones in a patriarchal society, economic ones that discourage women as income generation actors and often hamper their progress towards practicing their right in being productive human beings similar to their male peers.

Establishment of Priorities:

This capacity building project for 50 artisanal cooperatives in South Lebanon focused on three main areas: (1) customized assessment and training of coops with the development of 1-2 exquisite products for each group; (2) the development of a regional quality control center to assist the testing, labeling and packaging of coop products; and (3) the development of sustainable market presence through links with the private sector at the local and national level.
These priorities were established by the Atayeb Al Rif team (AAR) with the collaboration of the UNDP Team and the women of the cooperatives involved in order to make sure that the latter groups' needs were being met.

Formulation of Objectives And Strategies:

The goal was to stimulate opportunities for women in rural Lebanon to earn money while serving an active role in the decision-making process as shareholders in the food production centers. The idea is that economic independence and active interest in the development of their work would allow the women to play a decision-making role in other aspects of their life including in their households and communities. In order to achieve this two objectives were set by AAR; the first was to build the capacity of women through business skills and computer training. The second was is to promote the women’s products on the national and international markets.

Mobilisation of Resources:

The Atayeb Al Rif staff started the initiative and requested funding from the UNDP which granted it. With their background and knowledge in the field, the AAR staff was able to organize the activities including the training sessions, the rehabilitation of production centers and the compiling of requirements for the labeling and the hygiene standards. The members of the UNDP Team were also involved in discussions about organizational matters and helped with facilitating the participants needs and working around the social boundaries (timing and location of trainings among other things). External consultants were hired for the training and technical advice for the production centers.
The success of the project however is also due to the women's involvement and motivation to succeed. This allowed the community and even some municipalities to participate and support the initiative such as the Deir Anoun Ras Al Ain and Bint Jbeil municipalities who now involve these women's cooperatives in local matters and purchase their products for local events.

Process:

Results Achieved:

The program offers the women the opportunity to make money by tapping into an arena with which they were historically and culturally familiar (food processing) with a new component – revenue generation. The women were offered a chance to turn their domestic skills into a business.
Building on the women’s food preservation skills, the training team worked on refining and adding to that capability. The women underwent a series of training sessions that included quality control and hygienic practices, cooperative management, budget and financial management, and marketing and sales development. By the end of the initial intensive training program, the women assumed full control and responsibility of their cooperative business. This allowed them to have some financial freedom and a say in the household affairs. Eventually, many local municipalities also started to acknowledge the potential of these women as solid foundations for their communities.
Environmental sustainability was also a byproduct of the initiative. Transforming raw products into traditional Lebanese delicacies with an extended shelf life where they would otherwise be spoiled and thrown away is of significant benefit to the environment.
These training sessions were not only beneficial to the women who were in attendance, but the practical skills obtained are able to be passed down to women who later join the cooperative for the sustainable growth of the cooperatives.

Lessons Learned:

Time period of the project: The time period of the project was such that it was not possible to oversee work done on big batches of produce due to the fact that it was not the right season for any of the raw materials used. Since the end of the project though, work has continued with the cooperatives and any further help they required was given to them.
Maturation of cooperatives leadership and management capacity: Newly joining cooperatives or associations require more time and guidance to achieve similar capacities as their predecessors. Some of the cooperatives require additional counsel and bookkeeping/management training and orientation to become fully functional and self-reliant. Furthermore these groups require additional time and experience in order to enable them to reach a new
maturity level to where they can overcome start-up and production market entry barriers to become income generating businesses – achieving their projected targets for their members.
Constraints to cooperative business growth from lack of access to capital: The issue of working capital is a concern for the women's cooperatives since the viability of the business is dependent on that capital to be successful. Atayeb Al Rif is still looking to create a fund that would allow the cash-flow problems of the cooperatives to be solved.
There is limited cooperation between cooperatives themselves as well as between the cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture. Any problems and solutions encountered by one of the cooperatives is not shared with the others and thus usually also become problems to other cooperatives, leading to an overall decrease in potential earnings. Atayeb Al Rif is taking on the responsibility for the moment of sharing the information on problems encountered by some of the cooperatives, however greater cooperation between the cooperatives will be an objective in itself in future projects.

Transfers:

This initiative has benefited from the previous experience of Atayeb Al Rif's staff working with the YMCA of Lebanon on the 3-year Stimulating Markets and Rural Transformation (SMART) program which created job and income generating opportunities for women in rural areas of Lebanon through the establishment of food processing centers/ cooperatives and production farms.
Atayeb Al Rif has gained knowledge and experience while working on these projects that would allow them to replicate or help replicate the initiative all over Lebanon and even the region where the situation is similar.
With the proper funding, training sessions can be organized for new cooperatives in order to bring them to the level of production within the international standard of hygiene and labeling that Atayeb Al Rif has established for the other cooperatives.

Related Policies:

This particular project was done over too short a time period, however and overall, Atayeb Al Rif has been working with the Ministry of Agriculture who has recently started calling upon Atayeb Al Rif and the cooperatives they represent to attend international exhibitions. It is the opinion of Atayeb Al Rif that this is a sign of improvement in the relationship between the state and the cooperatives and might someday lead to more cooperative friendly legislation.

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Supporting Material:

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