TRAINING COURSES WE OFFER
Courses Overview
AICAD offers practical, short courses aimed at poverty reduction and wealth creation in communities. These include Value Addition, which focuses on improving product quality and marketability; Enterprise Development to build entrepreneurship and business management skills; and Irrigation and Water Resource Management to promote efficient water use for increased agricultural productivity. The institute also empowers rural women by enhancing their participation in income-generating activities and offers training in the Promotion of Export Trade in Commercial Craft to help artisans access global markets. In addition, AICAD provides tailor-made courses designed to meet specific needs of clients and stakeholders.
Background
Justification
Although many farmers put a lot of time and effort in their crops and livestock, they often obtain little from them when it comes to the market. For a long time, local farmers have continued to have few options for handling agricultural produce. Most foods have been eaten fresh and any leftovers immediately thrown away and there hasn’t been any urgency before to consume food in an efficient manner, let alone preserve it. Adding value to farm produce is a smart move for several reasons—it’s not just about making products more attractive, but about unlocking greater benefits for farmers, consumers, and the economy.
Course 2: Enterprise Development
Duration: 10days Cost: $385
Background
Justification
Africa has been characterized by rising poverty levels and is the only region of the world where poverty is projected to rise during this century if adequate measures are not urgently taken. East African countries are basically agrarian and 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture and related activities. These activities revolve around provision of services and products. Most of these enterprises are in the informal sector. Most of them are run by families or a few people, often ranging from 2 to 10.
Course 3: Irrigation and Water Resource Management
Duration: 5days Cost: $500
Background
Justification
Irrigated agriculture will continue to play an important role in the country’s pursuit of food security and food self-sufficiency, employment and foreign exchange earnings. Irrigation projects and especially community-based irrigation projects in Kenya continue to operate at very low efficiencies. This is especially so for projects where surface (basin, furrow, border) irrigation methods are practiced. The low efficiencies in water abstraction, conveyance, distribution and application leads to wastage of the scarce water resources.
Course 4: Rural Women Empowerment
Duration: 10days Cost: $250
Background
Justification
Poverty has several manifestations, which include lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods, hunger and malnutrition, ill health, limited or lack of access to education and other basic services, unsafe environments, social discrimination and/or exclusion. Where issues of poverty are raised, women who form more than 50% of the more than 1 billion people are often the most affected. This is because, by and large, they are in every society, also the most disadvantaged. The same scenario is true for East African women. It is against this background that AICAD plans to tackle some of the problems that rural women face in agriculture, land management and environment as producers of food, health and first aid, income generation and value addition as well as leadership issues within its target communities. In East Africa, where more than 80% of the population lives in the rural areas, it is also true that the majority of women are found there, hence the focus on the programme.
Course 5: Promotion of Export Trade in Commercial Crafts
Duration: 15days Cost: $1,000
Background
Justification
East Africa is a region of vast resources that range from raw materials, potential for industries and a population that has potential to spur it towards economic growth when harnessed adequately. Over 50% of the population in the region live below 1 US $ a day. Many of these people are engaged in subsistence agriculture that is no longer sustainable, on small parcels of land that are already exhausted, or have land, but do not have the resources to access equipment that would enable them to exploit it.