Twenty-eight young entrepreneurs, including 10 women, from Egypt representing 16 teams successfully completed their training in the use of a solar-powered smart projector kit containing a library of farmer-training videos. Each team had won this smart device through a selection process as part of Access Agriculture’s Young Entrepreneur Challenge Fund initiative.
The winners of the Challenge Fund, known as Entrepreneurs for Rural Access (ERAs) will be actively involved in disseminating the technologies promoted in the videos in their local communities using the smart projector.
The use of the smart projector is a core element of the project ‘Innovation for Small-Holder Resilience’ (iNashr) that Access Agriculture is implementing in Egypt, in partnership with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) of the Ministry of Agriculture with support from GIZ.
The project involves more than 100,000 smallholder farmers across six governorates and seeks to promote sustainable farming of wheat and fava beans, with a focus on improved irrigation management.
The training programme of the entrepreneurs was organised in two cities: the first was held in Beni Suef, Upper Egypt with 17 participants including six women from 10 ERA teams. The second in Mansoura, Dakahleya, in the Delta region with 11 participants including four women from six ERA teams. Three facilitators from Access Agriculture (Laura Tabet, Kenzie Azmi and Phil Malone) led the training programme.
Consisting of theoretical and hands-on sessions, the training programme covered the following topics and activities:
- The main components and functions of the smart projector: demonstration and practice
- How to organise video shows
- Basic awareness of entrepreneurship skills
- Use of Mergdata and WhatsApp for monitoring and tracking data
- Development of a workplan for the next 6 months
- Facilitation and organisation of mock video screenings
- Communications and sharing of information
The participants appreciated the interactive sessions, especially the demonstrations and practical work and the brainstorming about video projection techniques and other topics and are looking forward to learning more from ERAs in other countries.
