TRAINING COURSES ON “CAPACITY BUILDING FOR BEEKEEPING COOPERATIVES” AND “CAPACITY BUILDING FOR COOPERATIVES FOR THE VALORISATION OF AROMATIC AND MEDICINAL PLANTS” HELD IN THE SOUSS-MASSA REGION (MOROCCO)
The training courses on “capacity building for beekeeping cooperatives” and “capacity building for cooperatives for the valorisation of aromatic and medicinal plants” took place in January 2021 in the Souss-Massa region (Morocco), more specifically in the cities of Agadir and Tiznit.
The trainings were organized by GEMAISA Project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests (MAPMDREF), the Research, Training and Education Directorate (DEFR) and the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and the Regional Office of the Agricultural Council.
The targeted participants were members of beekeeping cooperatives in the Agadir region and of cooperatives for the valorisation of aromatic and medicinal plants in the Tiznit region. The training courses involved 240 women and men for a total duration of 6 days. –
While the trainings were held in different areas and addressed to people from different cooperatives, the activities performed were parallel and they essentially mirrored each other as to methods and results. Members of professional agricultural organisations in the region – both in Agadir and Tiznit, which had already been the subject of surveys carried out in the first phase of GEMAISA, received training in the following fields:
- Internal governance of cooperatives, laws and regulations
- Working conditions, emergency aid and safety at work
- Accounting and financial management
- Soft skills
Thanks to these courses, participants increased their skills related to the management of a cooperative and gathered some useful governance tools. The trainings also strengthened their capacity to ensure the safety at workplace within their cooperatives and provided them with the fundamental concepts of general accounting, thus developing mastery of accounting tools and financial flow management. They were also helped to develop collaborative work and collective intelligence skills, to master techniques of negotiation, persuasion and argumentation and to manage internal conflicts.
The women showed a huge interest in the topics proposed, especially in the female leadership module, which was an innovation for most of them.
