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| | | Title | LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Turning environmental problems into economic opportunities—a story of rural African woman entrepreneur, Case Study No. 24 | | Author | ACBF | | Subject | Women and Leadership | | Date of Publication | 2016024 | | Publisher | African Community of Practice on Management for Development result at the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) | | Number of Pages | 5 pages | | Language | English | | Geographical Coverage | Africa | | Keywords | Women and Entrepreneurship | | Abstract | Water hyacinth has become a global menace with negative impacts on the environment and local communities that live around water areas. Its presence on Lake Nokoué in Benin affects locals who live in the surrounding area. As it clogs waterways, paralyzes fishing activities, and emits greenhouse gases, it slows down local socioeconomic activities. Among the key findings: A rural woman found an interesting business idea to transform the environmental problem into an economic opportunity. She created an organization, developed her leadership skills to involve rural women, and established a business entity. She now provides income for 25 rural women. The main conclusions: This story demystifies the plant (water hyacinth) and describes this woman's business success. But some key challenges remain, requiring policy and decision makers’ attention in helping rural women and many others sustain and expand their businesses. The key lessons: In practical terms, it is crucial to support establishing a framework that promotes the development, monitoring, and branding of such innovation. Eventually, this framework will provide African nations with a thriving private sector that reduces unemployment and poverty. The main recommendations: Public institutions’ support is important to enable people to innovate. Monitoring innovators is important to build their capacity in order to have a flourishing private sector. Branding local innovators’ products is important. This aspect requires policy attention to protect innovations and allow innovators to develop and expand their businesses. | | Copyright Holder | African Community of Practice (AfCoP) | | Copyright URL | http://www.acbf-pact.org | | Filesize | 507179 MB | | File Format | PDF | | [ View / download original document ] |
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