This programme is funded by Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and implemented by UNITAR. The beneficiaries of this programme are women and youth from ZIMBABWE who are based in the country.
In many African communities, agriculture is one of the key activities for income and livelihood, however it has been enormously impacted not only by the pandemic but also the energy and food crisis, climate change, and increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Over time, these issues can be detrimental to economic growth.
This potential economic instability has devastating impacts for women and youth, who make up the vast majority of those worst affected. The large numbers of female-headed households in vulnerable settings are especially exposed to economic shocks as they are mostly disadvantaged in terms of access to land, labour, credit, livelihood opportunities, and infrastructure.
Accelerating sustainable and climate resilient livelihoods through development of small and medium agribusiness enterprises for women and youth will provide direct impact on the ground and support urgently needed livelihood opportunities that will also address extreme poverty and recurring food insecurity.
UNITAR and the programme donor the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) recognize the need for capacity development and the importance of SME and entrepreneurship development including the role of frontier technologies in the region to support inclusive and sustainable development.
This programme also aims to strengthen the on-going efforts by BADEA in the region by supporting the specific priority needs of governments across different sectors with special focus on agriculture and boosting livelihood opportunities through SME development.
The programme aims to inspire, empower and build capacities of women and youth in Zimbabwe to boost their individual and collective resilience to launch viable livelihood activity that would allow them to be self-sufficient and constructively contribute to their communities.