Congo/ Empowering women: women producers set up a sales outlet

Women working in agriculture in the departments of Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire and Bouenza now have a space in which to market their agricultural produce, making it easier to get to the buyer within a reasonable timeframe.

The "Sumba na bilanga" space showcases the activities of producers, processors, traders, wholesalers, restaurateurs and sellers of agricultural equipment and seeds, putting them in contact with buyers.

The exchange between them is made through the digital platform "www.sumbanabilanga.com" launched by the Association "Azur développement" on June 7 in Brazzaville. This platform is part of the implementation of the "Promotion of rights and economic empowerment of vulnerable women and girls" project in the departments of Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire and Bouenza, financed by the Fonds de la Francophonie. The aim is to give vulnerable women and girls better access to training and socio-professional and economic integration opportunities, and to develop a product sales platform to enable them to sell their goods quickly.

The project also aims to improve the ability of vulnerable women and girls to prevent early and unwanted pregnancies, and sexual violence, by reinforcing their capacity to protect themselves and their families.and sexual violence by strengthening their access to sexual and reproductive health information and services offered by the project's partner health centers.

The "Sumba na bilanga" space enables products to be presented and orders placed via the website, telephone and WhatsApp application, explained project assistant Emmanuel Nkounkou. According to him, the site provides users with information on the producer, the stock, the type of agricultural products, the price of processed or valorized agricultural products; specifically peanut paste, squash as well as non-valorized products such as beans and cassava tubers. On the same occasion, he reminded the audience that the association acts as an intermediary between the two players, before expressing his wish to see these women become autonomous and take charge of their own affairs. The Departmental Director of Agriculture, Rodrigue Gamard Diahouakou, for his part, assured the association of his willingness to collaborate with it.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com