BY: Shallon S.Gonlor
NIMBA COUNTY — The Rural Integrated Center for Community Empowerment (RICCE) is cementing effort in providing support to strengthen the role of indigenous women aim to preserve the East Nimba Nature Reserve-ENNR forest communities for a better ecosystem.
This is triggered by the continued cutting down of forest and loss of species due farming and other purposes, degradation of habitats in violation of the Forest Development Authority legal framework, as Liberia depends on the forest resources to benefit the present and future generation.
On Friday, 3 May 2024 RICCE led its partners’ peer learning exchange visit to two of it project communities in Gbobayee and Zor Kpolay Town, Nimba County District #3 for site viewing and sharing experiences.
The collective and mentorship tour with partners in the forest areas highlights the importance of a safe biodiversity conservation with the inclusion of rural women as key parity.
RICCE is playing a critical role in strengthening food security and income for indigenous communities around the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR) whose original farmland was reserved for the establishment of protected areas and conceded revenue generation.
During the visit, the Chief Executive Officer of RICCE, Madam Renee Gibson, disclosed their community empowerment program for vulnerable women in the forest areas known as the East Nimba Nature Reserved aimed to ensure protection and conservation of the Nimba Park through an improved agriculture and skill programs for long-term and short-term sustainability.
Madam Gibson said women empowerment and gender equality play a crucial role in efforts to improve community well-being, impacting forest protection, wildlife animals and contributing to the reduction of deforestation for climate change prevention.
She continued that the community empowerment initiative always prioritize women for gender equality, confident that the women empowerment initiative carried out by the RICCE with funding from the American Jewish World Service (AJWDS) and partners has inspired a broader audience of vulnerable women because activities impacting forest protection can be carried out by women without neglecting their roles in the family.
RICCE collaboration with AJWDS, New Narrative, SID, and Liberia Feminist Forum is providing live time skill education and business incubation program, which farmers, mostly women in Gbobiyee and Zor Kpolay Towns in the East Nimba Nature Reserve forest communities have acquired training and integrated from farming, restoring indigenous knowledge to produce locally made material like mats, rattan baskets, and fishing nets among others.
The training covers raw material production from the forest to various commodities processing and skill enhancement for marketing, involving more than 30 women each in village saving and loan program and other initiatives for sustainability.
The training also intends to improve the living conditions of the indigenous people, to protect biodiversity in the tropical forests and to invest in the sustainable production of natural material for revenue generation so as to protect the precious natural ecosystem and to act against deforestation and securing the livelihood of the indigenous people who live in and depend on the forests.
RICCE’s joint project is concentrated on improving the livelihood of women who live and farm in the forest community where local women play a central role in the rainforest’s future, working locally to protect the environment and at the same time support the development of the local community.
Following its project site visit on Friday, RICCE and partners all see it as important that these women are able to develop new skills – that new educational and work opportunities are opened up for them so that they can take a prominent position in their village saving and loan and other programs.
In remarks, the women representative of the Zor Community Forest Management Body (ZFCMB), Ma Marie Duo expressed excitement, stating that women representation at the forest leadership level is impactful and has made tremendous progress in making key decision for their forest protection, biodiversity conservation and benefit for women.
She further narrated that preserving the forest will serve as eco-tourism center to have an income resource generation for the future, thus lauding RICCE and donors for the eye opening and advocacy that women now have access to information and the management of their forest.
RICCE project funded by AJWS also contributes to support farmers’ group through the Village Saving and Loan Association approach to enable greater resilience and self-reliance among both vulnerable women and the communities.
Through intervention, RICCE positively impacted poverty reduction through social protection systems such as its Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA) program which has made financial and micro finance services available to indigenous communities’ women and reduced community vulnerability to climate change through sustainable agriculture intensification.
For her part, Ms. Comfort Zeegban, head of a group called “Woe-Doe” Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA) program on Friday spoke, bestowed honor and praised RICCE and partners for the opportunity and advance support to make them independent women, relieving them from financial barrier and poverty.
Ms. Zeegban, a farmer thanks RICCE for the funding, noting that as farmers group arising in Zor Kpolay they had no source of income for the last decades and sustaining their family was a struggle and difficult one.
According to her, few years ago, she heard about RICCE’s VSLA program and her effort to mobilize single mother into the group has boost their agriculture investment, earning more incomes to sponsor their children in school and living a better livelihood.
With more experiences, Ms. Comfort Zeegban thanks RICCE for the project, calling for more expansion into their neighboring towns, feeling hopeful for the future.
At the same time, RICCE partner in progress, Development Education Network of Liberia (DEN-L) through its Program Trainer/Master Lead, Beatrice K. Sondahadmonished those women to develop a detailed plan to improve their livelihood.
Explaining the importance of the village saving and loan program, Madam Sondahstressed that VSLA is an establishing community-based, small-scale savings groups for people in a poor households in order to improve their financial assets management, adding that the micro-finance includes a robust capacity building plan for both women and the community.
She further noted that the program is a self-managed group of adolescent and adult women who mobilize and manage their own savings and provide loans to members, stressing that money saved in “shares” of a predetermined value set by the group is mandatory for each member to save at least one share per meeting.
Founded August 5, 2005 as a grassroots activist, RICCE is playing a critical role in strengthening food security and income for indigenous communities around the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR) whose original farmland was reserved for the establishment of protected areas and who conceded revenue generation.
Strongly involved in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, particularly in natural resource governance and climate change adaptation discussions, the community based organization is leading advocacy for gender responsiveness and mainstreaming in programs and projects within the ENNR forest sector.
RICCE programs are a complete package that addresses environmental, social, economic issues in the communities. One of the key components of its project that supports resilience is the VSLA and farming as business strategies which provide income security and flexible loan services for rural farmers to continue to pay for additional seeds, tools, labor force, cater to domestics costs including payment of school fees, medical, food and well as support local development initiatives while responding to environmental issues. Access to income and food for forest-dependent communities give meaning to the biodiversity conservation drive.
Notably, gender bias is still deeply rooted in cultures, economies, political and social institutions in communities where women and girls face unacceptable levels of discrimination and abuse, which is not only wrong, but also, prevents them from playing a full part in society and decision-making. RICCE program has recognized that promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment is a matter of promoting sustainable development in a holistic manner.
