Women of Horeb: Empowering Livelihoods & Building Resilience

1. Background / Problem Statement

Across Ghana, women and youth face significant barriers to economic independence. Limited access to vocational skills training, lack of affordable finance, and weak entrepreneurial ecosystems create dependency and perpetuate cycles of poverty.

Rural women especially are underrepresented in formal employment and overburdened by unpaid care work. Without access to business training or start-up financing, their opportunities to improve family incomes remain severely constrained.

Horeb Outreach Ministry (HOM) recognizes that empowering women economically has a multiplier effect, improving family well-being, children’s education outcomes, and community resilience. This project builds on HOM’s strategic pillar of economic empowerment by providing women and youth with entrepreneurship training, practical livelihoods, and access to seed funding.

2. Goal & Specific Objectives

Goal:
To equip 300 women and youth with practical livelihood skills, entrepreneurship training, and access to mentorship and microfinance support by 2028.

Specific Objectives:

1. Deliver vocational and entrepreneurial training for women and youth in agriculture, tailoring, crafts, and agro-processing.
2. Provide financial literacy training and establish at least 10 community-based savings and credit groups.
3. Establish a revolving seed-finance fund to support 100+ startup micro-enterprises, especially women-led ventures.
4. Provide one-year mentoring and coaching for enterprise development.

3. Project Description (Approach & Activities)

The project will adopt a market-systems approach ensuring that beneficiaries not only gain skills, but also access value chains and sustainable markets.

Planned Activities:

• Community mobilization & recruitment of 300 women/youth.
• Vocational & entrepreneurship training workshops.
• Financial literacy sessions focusing on savings, budgeting, and cooperative models.
• Establishment of women’s savings groups and linkages to microfinance institutions.
• Provision of start-up kits or seed capital through a revolving fund.
• One-year mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs and community-based trainers.
• Showcase events for women-led micro-enterprises to engage stakeholders.

4. Expected Outcomes & Impact

Expected Outcomes:

• 300 women and youth trained and equipped with livelihood skills.
• At least 150 small micro-enterprises launched.
• Increased income generation at household level.
• Improved financial literacy and savings habits in beneficiary groups.
• Stronger role for women in local leadership and decision-making.

Long-term Impact:
Sustainable women-led businesses contributing to poverty reduction and economic independence, creating ripple effects that uplift entire families and communities.

5. Target Beneficiaries

• Primary: 300 women and unemployed youth (16–35 years), with at least 70% women participants.
• Secondary: Families benefiting from increased household income and food security.

6. Sustainability Strategy

• Revolving Seed Fund: Initial grants will recycle as businesses repay into the fund, allowing new cohorts to benefit.
• Women-led Savings Groups: Promotes ongoing financial discipline and group-managed micro-loans.
• Market Linkages: Partnering with buyers, local cooperatives, and online sales platforms to ensure profitability.
• Mentorship: Establishing a local support ecosystem that continues beyond donor funding.

7. Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)

• Baseline & endline livelihood surveys tracking household income changes.
• Regular beneficiary progress reports via savings groups.
• Tracking businesses launched, sustained, and scaled.
• Midterm review to evaluate business sustainability and mentorship support.

Indicators:

• of women/youth trained.
• of enterprises created.
• % increase in average household income.
• of women in leadership roles within groups.

8. Estimated Budget Summary (Oct 2025 – Dec 2026)

• Training Workshops (vocational, entrepreneurship): $4,000
• Financial Literacy & Savings Groups: $1,000
• Seed Capital / Start-up Kits: $3,000
• Mentorship & Coaching: $1,000
  Total Budget: $9,000

9. About Horeb Outreach Ministry (Institutional Capacity)

Horeb Outreach Ministry (HOM) has a mandate under Article 5.5 of its Constitution to establish income-generating and empowerment projects. HOM’s Strategic Plan (2025–2028) commits to rolling out five micro-enterprise schemes benefiting 300 individuals, two-thirds of whom are women. The organization applies transparent governance, participatory approaches, and faith-driven values of stewardship and compassion to ensure beneficiaries thrive. HOM partners with local entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and community groups, ensuring initiatives are market-relevant, sustainable, and empowering.