Project Type

Facts & Figures

REGIONS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Afféry, department of Akoupé

TIMELINE

2017–2021

TARGETED POPULATION

Youth aged 13 to 19 with a minimum education level of 6th grade who have dropped out of school.

FACILITATORS/ENABLERS/TRAINERS

  • Trainers and trainers’ supervisors
  • Girls Club leader

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

Rural Entrepreneurship Training Institute

KEY OBJECTIVES

  • Opening of the Training Institute in 2018
  • At least 20 students enrolled every year, including 40% girls
  • 3 trainers recruited and trained
  • Less than 20% dropout expected
  • 60 trained students supported in the establishment of income-generating activity in 2021

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About the project

The Rural Entrepreneurship Training Institute aims to give young people in cocoa-farming communities a second chance to receive an appropriate education and foster entrepreneurship to boost local economies.

Challenge

Youth socio-economic integration is a crucial issue in Côte d’Ivoire, where 20% of the population is between the ages of 15 and 24. Yet many young people lack the skills required for successful professional integration, be it as an employee or as an entrepreneur. Vocational training programs do not meet the constraints of rural youth nor the needs of the local markets, which explains high poverty rates in agricultural communities despite the country’s agricultural potential.

Solution

Since 1989, the Institut Européen pour la Coopération et le Développement (IECD) has implemented vocational training projects across 14 countries to promote the sustainable integration of young people into the labor market. Improving vocational and entrepreneurial skills is key to fostering youth employment in cocoa farming and in agriculture in general. Thanks to the dual pedagogy approach applied by the Rural Entrepreneurship Training Institute, students alternate between two weeks at school and two weeks on the job, usually on their family farms or with local farming companies. This way, students acquire theoretical and practical knowledge that prepares them for the future and contributes to their communities’ development.

Located in Afféry, the Rural Entrepreneurship Training Institute of Côte d’Ivoire, is active since 2018 and delivers quality agriculture training to young people aged 16 to 25. A special focus is placed on young women, who usually have little power to influence local development. Therefore, a Girls Club was created within the training center to offer a safe and friendly environment where girls can express their difficulties and receive appropriate guidance.

Results to date

A first batch of 28 students joined the school in October 2018. Included among them were 10 girls, representing 30% of the students. 19 students out of these 28 are now in the second year of the program; some of the dropouts were caused by the COVID-19 crisis. While the project encountered some dropouts, a new group of 19 students joined the school in 2019.

To ensure sustainability of this initiative, discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of National Education, Technical Education and Vocational Training. The opportunity to recruit trained youth is advertised with local companies and cocoa cooperatives.

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