A total of 15 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and refugees were on Wednesday presented with start-up kits to enable them grow their own businesses under Social Enterprise Ghana, Green Championship Project.
The project with support from World University Service of Canada, Global Affairs Canada and KGL Foundation aimed to support vulnerable communities engaged in Small and Medium Enterprises and agribusinesses.
The beneficiaries mainly women coming from different communities such as Buduburam, Potsin, Cape Coast and Afienya in the Central and Greater Accra regions respectively were given start-up kits which included various mushroom cropping, knapsack sprayers, and shovels.
The Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana, Mr Edwin Zu-Cudjoe, said the women were the first batch of beneficiaries trained out of the about 60 trained in green and circular economy.
He said they were taken through snail and mushroom production and how to add value and make business out of it.
“They were not only trained on how to farm, but how to identify various types of snails and mushrooms available on the market, add value, make business out of it and also teach others as trainers,” he added.
Mr Zu-Cudjoe said Social Enterprise, aimed to reach the Social Developmental Goals (SDGs) and seeing people uplift themselves from poverty.
He said the beneficiaries after the support would not be left out but would continue to provide them with business development support, give them opportunity to participate and showcase their products in most of their events as well as connect them into financial institutions where they could continue to receive investment into their businesses.
“The idea is to give them skills and livelihoods so they can go out there and be productive, and also be able to do something for themselves and not always be dependent on people,” he added.
Mr Zu-Cudjoe advised the beneficiaries to utilise the support given them since they would be monitoring to ensure that whatever they were provided and trained on were actually being implemented and executed.
One of the beneficiaries, Madam Adelaide Agbosu, who spoke in an interview with the Ghanaian Times expressed gratitude to Social Enterprise and its partners for the support.
She said “I’m glad for this support and this will empower me to start up my own business to generate some income to fend for my family.”
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
