GSEF: Training on Strategies for the Added-value of Local Products
On May 4, 2023, a session of the Réseau des Femmes Elues Locales d’Afrique (REFELA) was organized under the theme: “Training on strategies to promote local products. The meeting was chaired by Ms Jacqueline MOUSTACHE-BELLE, Director of the Gender & Youth Department, and moderated by Mr BETARI Abdelkader, Advisor to the Secretary General of UCLG Africa: Ms. MINOUGOU Cécile, President of the AIDS association, Ms. LAKRIMI Fatima Ezzahrae, President of the Coopérative Jour à Jour, Ms. MBANGO Diane Cylya, President of the Association Congo Emergent, Ms. MORENO Maxima, Member of REFELA-Cape Verde and Mr. DIARRA Abdoulaye, Territorial Coach, Senegal.
The promotion of local/territorial products and the support of local elected officials for the marketing of the products are determining factors for local economic empowerment and support for local producers to achieve an inclusive and sustainable local development.
Principal questions raized:
- How to promote local/territorial products?
- How to bring added-value to local/territorial products?
- How to connect between producers and other cities for the distribution of products?
- How can elected officials support women entrepreneurs to merge traditional business models with the digital model (e-commerce) for the marketing of local/territorial products on the international market?
- How can the Territorial Coaching Programme support the elected officials and the female entrepreneurs in the process of promoting local products?
The various interventions to respond to the points raised, revealed the need to implement a certain number of initiatives and actions involving local elected officials and civil society actors alongside entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs.
Among the points raised were :
- Raising awareness, and training: for the benefit of local producers in order to inform them of the advantages of promoting local products and to equip them with good production, processing and marketing capacities. The Territorial Coaching program of UCLG Africa is an innovative approach that draws on the wealth and talents of the territory and by operating on the complementarities of its local actors (elected officials, civil society, entrepreneurs, agencies or national ministries).
- Certification and labelling: an indisputable approach to promoting local products and equally guaranteeing their origin, quality and authenticity. Mrs. Minougou, President of AIDS of Burkina Faso stressed that this approach contributes to the establishment of consumer confidence in the products of the territory and facilitates their marketing, both on the local and international markets. Encouraging the creation of a territorial identity by highlighting the unique characteristics of the terroir, traditional know-how, local history and regional culture also help to differentiate products and enhance their attractiveness to consumers.
- Networking of local actors: Facilitate the creation of networks between producers, processors, distributors, restaurants and other local actors involved in the marketing of local products. The panel called for the creation and implementation of an African network of local products carried by the women of the REFELA network.
- Promotion and marketing of local productions using local media, social networks, dedicated websites,
e-commerce platforms and building the capacity of women entrepreneurs to use them.
- Compliance with standards: To bring added value to local products, Ms. LAKIRIMI, President of the “Jour à Jour” Cooperative in Morocco, stressed the importance of compliance with essential safety standards which revolve around three main pillars which are: the safety of technical production equipment; the nature and quality of the raw materials used as well as the choice of packaging and branding.
- Ms. Moreno, representative of REFELA- Cape Verde, underlined the key role of the elected official in supporting advocacy efforts and mobilization of grants, low-interest loans or support measures to facilitate access to markets and the necessary infrastructure. Ms. Moreno also recalled the need to carry out awareness campaigns on the importance of formalising economic activities and ensuring that entrepreneurs move from informal to formal status. Initiation and support for economic projects with cooperatives, partners and civil society organizations to create local wealth and facilitate the promotion of local products through the implementation of investment and trade policies more flexible.
Conclusion and Recommendations :
Collective action involving local elected officials and economic actors in the territory, encourages the promotion of its products and helps with marketing in the territory and elsewhere. This will contribute to strengthening the local economy and improving the living conditions of the populations.
The main recommendations of the workshop are :
– The creation of an African network of local products
– The support of elected officials for women entrepreneurs in their mobilisation of funds and in their efforts to formalise their economic activities
– Encouragement of public-private partnerships
– Creation of sales platforms and promotion