8x1000 Chiesa Valdese - 2020-2021
Brief Project Description
The project proposal stems from the collaboration between the DICA ETS Association (project leader) and its local partner for international cooperation activities in Tunisia, the Association Méditerranéene Pour le Développement en Tunisie (AMDT), and the Governorate of Sidi Bouzid. The intervention fully adheres to the indications of the Regional Agricultural Plan of Sidi Bouzid regarding the creation of integrated production systems in agriculture and livestock farming.
Sidi Bouzid Governorate represents one of the least developed areas of the country, characterized by lower economic development indicators and among the highest rates of youth and female unemployment in the country. A significant indicator of this underdevelopment is the labor market participation rate, which stands at 28% for women compared to 74% for men, and becomes even more significant in the agricultural sector, which is the regional economic engine.
Despite an unstable socio-economic situation, the reality of Sidi Bouzid is one of the most promising and innovative among all regions of Tunisia because it is also the place where civil society literally 'ignited' and fueled the revolution in 2011, especially among its youth and women, and where governmental constitutional bodies and civil society movements are working for change towards real democratization of territorial governance. In the Governorate of Sidi Bouzid, the General Union of Workers (UGTT) has distanced itself more from its compromise policy with the ruling party and, together with the Union of Unemployed Graduates (UDC), is advancing a project to assert labor rights based on real social needs. In the ongoing decentralization process in the country, an important role is played by civil society and in particular by young people and women from the peripheral areas of the country, who contribute to eliminating differences and disparities in order to promote economic, social, and cultural rights, forging constructive and trustworthy relationships between people and institutions.
This precedent is fundamental in cases of collaboration with organized civil society and local authorities in transition because it constitutes an essential basis of institutional trust to intervene at the local level.
General Objective
"To contribute to the elimination of differences and disparities in order to promote economic, social, and cultural rights."
Specific Objective
"To promote youth employment in sheep and goat farming and in the production of quality cheese."
Intervention Strategy
In collaboration with DICA ETS, the Association Méditerranéene Pour le Développement en Tunisie (AMDT), a Tunisian partner operating in the field of international cooperation since 2011, following an analysis of the needs of its territory, identified youth unemployment in the Governorate of Sidi Bouzid as one of the main elements to be addressed, and in the agricultural and dairy sectors the possibilities for activating project pathways for sustainable and solidarity socio-economic development of the Sidi Bouzid area: these elements are indicated as priorities within the regional programming document of the Governorate of Sidi Bouzid: "Regional Plan for Environment and Sustainable Development (PREDD) of the Governorate of Sidi Bouzid". It is also important to emphasize that the development of the project proposal saw the active collaboration of the partner Agence de Promotion des Investissement Agricoles (APIA) - Regional Directorate of Sidi Bouzid, which allowed the precise identification of project objectives and a division of roles based on the skills and responsibilities of each involved party.
Thanks to a previous international cooperation intervention funded by the Tuscany Region, a group of young people was set up in Sidi Bouzid who started producing forage and milk, thanks to the breeding of 6 dairy cows. This project action aims to integrate and extend the activities of the group by providing workers with the technical skills to start sheep farming and allow them to work and transform sheep's milk into quality artisanal dairy products.
Activities
The main activities planned for the start of sheep farming and the production and commercialization of dairy products:
-A1. Purchase and production of fodder for sheep;
-A2. Creation of a sheep stable and purchase of 30 sheep;
-A3. Training activities for Tunisian young shepherds conducted by Italian shepherds;
-A4. Start of milk production and creation and commercialization of cheese.
Expected Results
-Increased employment and qualification of young people in the agricultural sectors, in sheep farming, and in cheese production;
-Creation of an integrated production system between forage production, dairy cow and sheep farming, and milk and cheese production.
Direct Beneficiaries:
-15 young people from the Sidi Bouzid area involved in training for sheep farming and dairy product transformation.
Indirect Beneficiaries:
-The families of the trained individuals;
-The local community of Sidi Bouzid that will benefit from the implementation of local services and products.
Local Partners:
-Governorate of Sidi Bouzid
-Agence de Promotion des Investissement Agricoles (APIA)
-Association Méditerranéene Pour le Développement en Tunisie (AMDT)
Tuscan/National Partners:
-DICA ETS Association (project leader)
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