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Social Entrepreneurship
WINQS provides direct financial support to the Oxfam support network "Entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs" - a start-up helper and partner for many thousands of people in countries of the global South and an important instrument in the fight against climate change.
Matched to local needs, Oxfam's local partners provide vocational training, business skills and the necessary start-up capital so that women and men can build an economic existence on their own. In this way, people take their fate into their own hands to lift themselves and their families out of poverty in the long term.
Oxfam always works with local partner organisations, because they know the situation and the needs of the people in the supported regions best. All projects are regularly audited with regard to the defined objectives and the use of funds.
The approach of "Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs" puts self-sufficiency at the centre - the most efficient instrument to create perspective and prosperity among local people.
One example project is taking place in Burundi. A large part of the population there is directly affected by the climate crisis. Together with its partner organizations ADISCO, INADES Formation and OAP, Oxfam is helping people to preserve their livelihoods and increase their resilience to the climate crisis.
The hilly landscape of the three provinces of Bubanza, Bujumbura Rural and Cibitoke is prone to extreme weather. For some years now, there has been an increase in droughts, heavy rain, bush fires and even violent winds and hail. As a result of landslides and floods, entire villages and fields are often destroyed, worsening the living conditions of the population.
In addition, the average annual temperature in Burundi is projected to increase significantly by 2050. Due to rising temperatures and a longer dry period, there will be less water in the region.
Another problem is the high risk of erosion: Since wood is the main source of energy for the population, the region is extremely deforested. Due to the strong population growth, natural resources are a scarce and precious commodity anyway.
Members of the Bushigikirane solidarity group (Photo: Jana Schindler, Oxfam)
The project follows a participatory approach and was therefore developed together with the population, the local administration and the political representatives of the three provinces. Oxfam's local partner organisations sensitise the population and local representatives of the project regions to the effects of the climate crisis and the advantages of agroecological cultivation. In particular, the inhabitants can exchange their experiences and observations on the topic of the climate crisis. Through research involving smallholder farmers, adapted agricultural crops and cultivation practices are identified. Smallholder producers are trained in the implementation of improved cultivation measures.
A nationwide media campaign, which is carried out over the entire project period, helps to ensure that not only the population of the project municipalities benefits from the awareness-raising measures.
Another component of the project is the establishment of so-called climate committees, which are made up of people from already well-organised farmers organisations. The members of these climate committees inform the population, for example, about how water and wood can be used more sustainably. They also carry out intensive lobbying so that the needs of the inhabitants for adaptation measures to the climate crisis are taken into account in the communal development plans.
