| OBJECTIVES |
| In the DRC, women are generally more entrepreneurial in the informal sector than men. Thus, this project on entrepreneurship aims to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the KCA population through the promotion of entrepreneurship mainly among women, young graduates (girls and boys) as well as vulnerable people excluded from the labour market and lowincome people such as the disabled, widows, wives of demobilised soldiers, young people living on the street, etc., but also to develop strategies for the eco-responsible (or environmentally friendly) processing of raw materials (minerals). Specifically, this project proposes to (1) strengthen the emergence of entrepreneurship through the training of scientific and academic staff, with a focus on young female graduates and women employees of UNILU; (2) strengthen the capacity of women, youth and vulnerable people to become entrepreneurs; (3) organize the socio-professional reintegration of young adults living on the street; (4) establish an observation laboratory for the collection of a critical mass of information on the commercial elements of agricultural and food markets in the KCA for investors and entrepreneurs in this field; (5) create an incubation (start-up) and research unit on entrepreneurship affiliated to the UNILU-society interface, which will particularly encourage female students at the end of their studies and young researchers to start up; and (6) implement eco-friendly approaches to mineral processing (or the valorisation of mining waste) in order to strengthen the UNILU-enterprises network. In the medium term, this project aims at training qualified teachers-researchers (women and men) and acquiring the technical tools enabling UNILU to develop an expertise in entrepreneurship, especially for women and vulnerable people. Through these specific objectives, the project's long-term goal is to increase the capacity of women, girls and boys, and vulnerable people of both sexes to empower themselves through the materialization and implementation of projects that are as innovative as they are financially and economically profitable. In addition, it also aims to encourage women to work in the formal sector. This project (and therefore in the longer term, the observation lab and start-up mentioned) could be the link between enterprises linked, closely or remotely, to UNILU. UNILU and this project 4, therefore, have a central role in the networking of enterprises, which by a 'snowball' effect will improve local living conditions through more entrepreneurship and mitigating the socio-economic difficulties of the local population. |
| CONTEXT |
| The KCA has experienced steady population growth since the beginning of the 21st century, driven by the mining and extractive industries; however, the economic performance of the area contrasts with the living conditions of the population. In particular, the very tight labour market and problems of poor governance do not allow the population to benefit from the industrial exploitation of KCA's natural resource wealth. In addition, women and young people (boys and girls), who represent more than 50% of the actors involved in artisanal mining and subsistence agro-pastoral activities, face very severe living conditions, including violence, harassment of all kinds and forced labour. It should be noted that since the bankruptcy of parastatal companies (i.e. Gécamines, SNCC, etc.) that exploited natural resources and other sectors, women are gradually becoming heads of households with the loss of formal employment of the male heads of households. In addition, the shortage of qualified researchers in the field of entrepreneurship at UNILU means that there is a lack of academic expertise capable of providing sustainable technological innovations and scientific and entrepreneurial leadership. To date, only one woman at UNILU (Faculty of Economics Sciences and Management) is carrying out doctoral research in entrepreneurship under the supervision of a Professor from the ULiège, thanks to ARES-CCD funding. Consequently, the few measures taken to promote sustainable management of the entrepreneurial culture and the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the populations living within the KCA have so far been implemented without the scientific support of experts in the field. This approach (in which UNILU researchers are trained in new entrepreneurship techniques by exploiting the different value chains in various fields) will enable UNILU to become a crucible for training and support for young entrepreneurs. Through this project, we aim to promote entrepreneurship and thus reduce unemployment, lower the level of poverty in households and boost economic growth through the creation of micro-enterprises and local businesses. This will enable UNILU to participate in the creation and improvement, by 2032, of the socio-ecological conditions of the populations living in the KCA through the development of entrepreneurship, especially for women and vulnerable people. This project on entrepreneurship is linked to the other academic and cross-cutting projects developed through the IUC programme. Through the introduction of entrepreneurship to the people of the KCA, the pressure on natural resources (especially forests) will be reduced, which has the positive consequence of preserving biodiversity to some extent in order to optimise the ecosystem services it provides (Projects 1 and 2). In addition, women and youth working in ASM (e.g. carrying mineral bags on the back and on the head; mineral washing) are highly exposed to trace metals, resulting in the deterioration of their health . The creation of enterprises in other income-generating activities will protect both women, men and young artisanal miners from exposure to toxic metals, which will favor the reduction of certain diseases (Project 2). The agricultural techniques highlighted through project 5 will be shared with the KCA populations, especially women and young people, who are willing to engage in agricultural entrepreneurship. Finally, in the KCA, mining companies generally hold vast areas of land under concession. This regularly leads to cases of negative externalities (various forms of pollution, etc.) and cases of land conflicts with the surrounding population, especially those engaging in agricultural entrepreneurship. For this reason, improving the governance of land resources, as well as security conditions (project 3), will enable the surrounding population to have access to the land on which they can carry out income-generating activities. Populations wishing to develop businesses, focusing on other income-generating activities (other than mining and the exploitation of forest resources), will have access to the innovative approaches to entrepreneurship developed by UNILU researchers, in particular through extension sessions organized by the radio and television school, but also through continuing education organized with the support of the UNILU-society interface (project 6). |
| STRATEGY OF THE PROJECT |
| The project has the following strategic axes: Axis 1. Academic and research aimed at strengthening the pedagogical and technical skills of the teaching staff and mobilising relevant human resources, based on doctoral research (6-8 PhD theses), mainly in co-supervision (in pairs) with the Flemish partners. IR1: The competences of UNILU researchers on entrepreneurship are strengthened and transferred to students and at least 6 PhD students are trained. Axis 2. Trainingthanks to the creation of adapted and evolving continuous training (inter-faculty) in entrepreneurship for the benefit of external actors (women, young people, workers, etc.), but also through the integration of entrepreneurship teaching in the course programmes of UNILU for the benefit of students. These continuous training courses will be organised by the members of the observation laboratory for the agricultural and food markets and an incubation (start-up) and entrepreneurship research Unit. Teacher-researchers of UNILU will support these continuing education programs. IR2: A programme of continuing training is operational and the teaching of entrepreneurship is integrated into the course programmes of UNILU. Axis 3. Service to Society promoting communication, knowledge transfers and support for actors in the field of entrepreneurship. This support will be provided through the creation of two multidisciplinary structures: an observation laboratory for agricultural and food market and an incubation (start-up) and entrepreneurship research Unit, which will be part of the Environmental Observatory. Also, thanks to this project, a network will be created between companies and UNILU (multiple helix approach). IR3: Research support structures are being created and the results obtained are disseminated to all local actors. |
| FINAL BENEFICIARIES |
| The final beneficiaries/users of the project are: (1) UNILU, through the creation of research support structures, the academic succession assured and the young graduates trained who will be able to set up their own businesses; (2) women, men and young people working in various trades, including those working in the mining sector, who will be converted to other incomegenerating activities. The same applies to young people living on the street; (3) vulnerable people whose employability is almost nil because of their handicaps and the ensuing stigmatization; (4) the general population of the KCA in view of the numerous socio-economic spin-offs inherent in the realization of the project's various axes; and (5) businesses in the region whose employees will be interested in some of the themes proposed during the continuous training. End-users may encounter structural challenges and obstacles: the low involvement of traditional and political authorities, the inconsistency of state agents participating in training, the low level of collaboration between stakeholders, the language barrier. UNILU will address these challenges thanks to its good knowledge and understanding of the local context and its long-term collaboration with beneficiaries and end-users. UNILU will interact continuously with the final beneficiaries (through the advisory board, etc.) during the implementation of the project and will ensure that they receive the necessary training on how to apply the new technologies developed. A community of stakeholders will be created through a platform or a framework for exchanges that will be regularly animated and whose aim is to share information. In addition, meetings with all stakeholders (UNILU, enterprises, women's associations, youth, FEC, state services) will be organised, on a rotating basis in the KCA agglomerations, every 6 months in order to evaluate and reframe the different activities to be carried out within this project. Also, the mass media will be solicited to popularise the project activities to the entire KCA population. Finally, external partners (e.g. NGOs) will be supported through training so that they can effectively communicate and disseminate the data produced by the project. |
