WACRAD Empowers Local Communities with SMEs

WACRAD urges communities to venture into SMEs to spur local development, writes Alinafe Sambo.

Nyirongo showcasing samples of the things they have been trained

Rumphi, Malawi-The Word Alive Commission for Relief and Development (WACRAD), a development arm of Word Alive Ministries International, has reiterated the need to empower communities to venture into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to spur local development, writes Alinafe Sambo.

Speaking in an interview with AfricaBrief online, WACRAD program manager for Rumphi district Harvey Munthali said his organization has since lined up a number of capacity-building training in bakery and vocational skills targeting local communities.

Munthali noted that SMEs have the potential to spur local economies and are a source of essential goods and services that help improve the people's livelihood in rural areas.

He said it is against this background that his organization provided K2 million in order to support capacity-building training in bakery and bookkeeping involving 20 community members in Ntchenachena area. Of the twenty participants, 17 were women and 3 were men.

"We want to empower local communities with various trades so that they are able to embark on profitable small and medium enterprises that would help in uplifting the lives of the local communities," Munthali said.

"As an organization, we did an assessment of the communities and we found out that with targeted skills and capacity building, local communities can be helped to set up profitable business ventures that can go a long way in improving the living standards of the people," he added.

Munthali further said his organization is complementing government efforts in improving the lives of vulnerable communities who are struggling to make ends meet.

"WACRAD is complementing the government's efforts in scaling up the interventions aimed at improving the lives of the resource-poor rural communities because we have found that there are a lot of people who are in need of support. This is why we are providing capacity building in vocational skills and business management," he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Monase Mkandawire from Traditional Authority Mwalweni in the district, said the training in bakery and bookkeeping will equip her with the necessary skills that will help make her business profitable and self-sustaining.

Mkandawire said women have lagged behind in economic activities and she hopes that the skills being imparted to her and her fellow women will help boost their local business enterprises as they yearn for financial independence.

"I am the breadwinner and I have a huge responsibility to provide for my family. This training has therefore come at an opportune time as I want to boost my business and be able to adequately fend for my family," said Mkandawire.

Concurring, Innocent Nyirongo said there is a need for deliberate efforts that should target local communities on how they can successfully run profitable small-scale businesses.

Nyirongo further said with the right interventions, local communities have the potential to create wealth within their localities thereby improving the provision and delivery of essential goods and services.

"We have the potential to take part in wealth creation interventions at the community level. All we need is the technical knowledge on how to make our small-scale businesses profitable. We lack skills in production, marketing and bookkeeping. This training is therefore a huge step towards achieving a successful business," said Nyirongo.

The training is being facilitated by Kurya ndiko uku community-based organization.