"In December 2019, I joined a financial education training offered by UNIDO where I learned the main principles of accounting…After that, I followed a comprehensive entrepreneurship programme offered by UNIDO that further enriched my managerial skills. As a result of it, I accessed a microfinance institution called IRADA so that I could get a small loan to purchase an oil press," explains Nour Mohagoub Amin from New Halfa in Kassala State in eastern Sudan.
Mohagoub Amin has made her small groundnut-oil processing business into a success. "I can now earn almost 5,000 Sudanese pounds (US$11) per day. This experience gives me a sense of pride and has built my confidence about what I am able to do."
Mohagoub Amin is a beneficiary of a three‐year project, "Fostering inclusive economic growth in Sudan Kassala State through agro‐value chains development and access to financial services", implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and funded by the Government of Italy.
The project focuses on development of priority agricultural value‐chains by promoting advanced agro‐technologies and practices, as well as access to finance. It aligns with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture's Second Five‐Year Plan 2012‐2016 for the agricultural sector with the overall aim to increase the competitiveness of key rain‐fed as well as irrigated‐based agricultural crops in Eastern Sudan.
Another project beneficiary is Elbagir Arabi, a farmer who, thanks to a microloan from UNIDO, secured a technical package of fertilizers and herbicides, accompanied by on-field training on improved agricultural techniques provided by trainers from UNIDO and the Kassala State Ministry of Production and Economic Resources (MOPER).
