income generating activity Presentation by : Mamoon Al Adaileh Sustainable Land Management coordinator ARMPII

Introduction ARMP II is an 10 year project, which was initiated in 2005 with the aims of: improving the water supply, assuring food security through effective use of soil and water resources and improved management practices, and providing institutional support. Jordan’s most vulnerable group is characterized by women- headed households, and households who own no or little land, and whose members cannot find alternative employment opportunities.

Main Problem Encountered by the Project. The projet’s target group includes smallholders whose source of income is agriculture. As per project design, the target group includes 22,300 households, of which: (i) 13,500 small and medium farmers; (ii) 2,700 rural landless; and (iii) 6,100 disadvantaged households. While women represent 10% (or 1,350) of category (i) mentioned above, they constitute 70% (or 1,890) of category (ii), and 60% (or 3,660) of category (iii). According to these numbers, total targeted women equal to 6,990. As per design, the IGA programme would target 2,500 women. The project has currently reached around 1,800 women (72% of total targeted), and expects to reach 2,200 by the end of 2014 and an additional 300. The target communities have been selected through an IFAD-organized survey in 2004; the geographical target presently comprises 65 communities.

The activity targeted the rural women in the southern part of Jordan to Improve their life by creating income generating activity which help on improving their level of income.

The partners involved in the innovation are women and ARMPII and training centers in universities and ACC This program has targeted around 1300 women in technical training courses on dairy and food processing, livestock raising, bread production, mushroom production and soap manufacturing. Then we direct the women's to ACC to have loans, more than 700 women submitted to have loans from ACC, but only 550 women take loans to establish their own projects( and that because of ACC conditions ) The project cost is varied from 500 jd up to 5000 jd depending on the type of project but the total investment on these activities exceeds 1.5 million us $

Net profit Total reveniue {monthly } Running cost+ loan repayment {monthly } Investment cost Activity Food processing Shrak braed Dryers, pastries and pickles Raising sheeps and dairy products dairy products Mushroom production * Chicken for egg production Impact on farmers income

Results and benefits Impact on farmers livelihoods the life of the family had been changed and women began to have a good effect on family decision and significant change can be noticed by eye on the way of living and furniture inside house, dressing type, kids education, health, and nutrition Impact on local communities Rising awareness of local communities to give women's their rule in development and improving the HH life Impact on natural resource Best use for available natural resource specially water and soil and of course human by capacity building program on different topic raised by women through training on topics like mother and kids health, public health, household budget, internet use, …… Using backyard stock in rational way

SWOT analysis results Strengths of your organization when the innovation has been implemented Weaknesses of your organization when the innovation has been implemented Opportunities (external factors from the environment) Threats (external factors from the environment) 1 - existence of institutions such as universities and vocational training centers in the project work area 2 - The presence of qualified and trained staff capable of holding training sessions 3 - The presence of materials and equipment needed for training 4 - need of the target group for the creation of small income- Generating 1 - the main reliance in funding for Agricultural Credit Cooperation which requires certain guarantees that women’s can’t submit 2 - lack of diversity in the areas of training and limited to the agricultural side only 3 - lack of trust between members of the local community and the implementing agencies Creating a group of women can be a trainer for others Youth participation on work within the family Export of high quality, high priced product 1- rely on local marketing and personal relationships 2 - lack of alternative institutions to provide financing and if they found the interest rate is high 3 - difficult economic conditions of the targeted families 4- Disjointed efforts of stake holders 8

9 Characteristics and attributes of rural poverty Opportunities provided by ARMP II Current Potential Limited access to alternative sources of off-farm income.  Promote IGAs.  Increase economic benefits through employment generation from IGAs.  Increase market linkages to assure farmers’ products access to markets, which will also encourage farmers to increase productivity where feasible. Limited opportunity for diversification of farm enterprise in view of physical farm circumstances (water, soil, topography).  Promotion of IGAs that maximize returns from limited resources.  Concentrate on improving on-farm efficiencies through altering cropping patterns and specifically concentrating on products that generate higher returns per unit of water used.  Improve access to credit to invest in a farm activity with higher income generating potential.  Raise awareness of economic benefits deriving from collective action to reduce costs along the chains and maximize profits.  Establish market linkages to ensure sales of products. Restricted access to the financial resources needed to invest in a farm activity with higher income generating potential, due to lack of collateral.  ACC’s lending conditions have improved, but there is scope for further improvements to ensure that benefits reach the most vulnerable groups.  The project should explore the possibility of helping farmers – and in particular the most vulnerable – prepare business plans that highlight the expected returns from the investment. These plans should be presented to ACC when loans are requested. Rural poverty and opportunities provided by IGAs under ARMP II