CCIA-Saida supports 6 women cooperatives

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Saida and the South announced last Saturday its support to new projects implemented that target women members in six cooperative associations. Support to these individual projects came as part of UNDP-support to a broader scheme aiming at rural women coops in Nabatiyeh and the South, and which is implemented by the Chamber and funded by the Drylands Development Center-DCC (http://web.undp.org/drylands).The initiative seeks to strengthen the marketing and production capacities of cooperatives in order to boost their economic sustainability.  The Chamber also announced that the six winning cooperatives were: the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Aitaroun, the Productive Agricultural Cooperative Association in Adshit, the Cooperation Association for the Manufacture and Marketing of Agricultural Products in Hula (Moonit El Dai’aa), the Cooperative Association for Food Processing and Marketing in Abbasiyeh (Jood El Ard), the Cooperative Association for Rural Food in Hariss (Al Imad) and lastly, the Cooperative Association for Artisan and Agricultural Manufacturing in Qana- the Holy Family. It is to be noted that the  programme to support the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Aitarun aims to increase the income of 50 women in the cooperative and in the village, through raising chickens for eggs production, while Adshit undertaking aims at increasing the productive capacity of the Coop’s line of products, the thyme (zaatar baladi), through the provision of zaatar seedlings and the required irrigation network and water reservoirs, due to the growing demand on this rural commodity. The remaining projects in Houla, Abbasiyeh and Hariss benefit women members through development of their productive capacities by securing the proper tools and equipment needed for food processing, mainly for the making of jams, preserves and traditional mooneh items. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, As Safir, June 26 and 27, 2016)