Courses
Wuntira Agri Foundation offers the following courses. They can be adapted for the target audience in terms of length and content.
Good agricultural practices (GAP)
This training covers sustainable agricultural practices and usually lasts 3 days. Topics covered include:
- Applying synthetic fertilizers correctly
- Making organic fertilizer
- Collecting and using data for decision-making regarding when and how to plant and harvest
Training is tailored to topics relevant for the crops grown in the community receiving training.
Shea nut training
Shea nut training is comprised of multiple modules, each of which typically lasts about 3 days. Topics include:
- Nut collection and aggregation – including separating organic and non-organic nuts
- Quality control – including Free Fat Acid (FFA) levels and moisture control
- Warehouse management – to reduce post-harvest losses
- Bag marking and labelling – for storage in the coop warehouse
Training can be adapted for the participants’ needs, literacy levels and skills.
Climate smart vegetable farming program
This capacity-building training initiative encourages youth in peri-urban and rural communities to engage in climate-smart farming practices and create businesses that will add value to the crops and thus increase job availability for young people, especially young women. Business development consultants share expertise on packaging and branding a business. The training lasts 4 days. Topics covered include:
- Site Selection
- Seed Preparation
- Land Preparation
- Weed Control
- Pest Management
- Post-harvest practices
- Business and product development – to help participants plan and brand their businesses
- E-commerce marketing – using social media and websites to market products
Cooperative Operations training
This 2-module training usually lasts 6 days, split into two 3-day sessions. Participants learn about:
- Benefits of having a cooperative, including increased leverage in the marketplace and collective bargaining
- Cooperative governance, including recordkeeping, by-laws, elections, and documentation
- Business Management
- Financial Literacy
- Post-harvest crop handling techniques
- Shea parkland and farmlands conservation and regeneration techniques
- Quality agro-processing techniques
- Proper application of synthetic and organic fertilizer products
Financial Literacy training
Financial literacy is provided as part of the development of cooperatives, though it can also be taught as a stand-alone course. The training usually lasts three days. Main topics covered include:
- Bookkeeping
- Receipts and contract document filling
- Records keeping (Inventory/stock)
- Savings and Loans process
- Money management
Ongoing support
Cooperatives are provided with ongoing support. WAV’s three field officers consist of one agroecological agronomist and two officers who coordinate the affairs of the cooperatives. The agronomist advises the women smallholder farmers and provides further training on good agricultural practices that will maintain and improve soil and crop health in order to produce sufficient yields.
