Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Katie Pringle has started her own business, Rock, Paper, Scissors »
Andrew Mernin is the Digital Journalist for nebusiness »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ross Smith, Head of Policy and Research at the North-East Chamber of Commerce »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Andrea Wilkinson of Shared Interest is visiting Swaziland to deliver business training »
Jonathan Wheatley from Stokesley-based MC Ware writes about IT matters »
Mark Lisgo is a Northeasterner who works for law firm Eversheds in Abu Dhabi, UAE »
Adam Lopardo is director of the Sponsors Club for Arts & Business, bringing business and art together »
Curator Danielle Pender shares the peaks and pitfalls of working with 21 designers on a month-long exhibition »
Paul Williamson is from Deloitte »This weekend Joan and I had the privilege of meeting farmers and handicraft makers amongst the thousands of hills that dominate the Rwandan landscape.
As we turn each corner between the coffee, tea (Rwanda’s main exports) and banana plantations, the tin roofs sparkle in the African sun.
The sides of the roads are covered with people walking single file to trade goods in local towns, or travelling to schools and local businesses. However, driving deeper into the country, some of the pressures on the land become evident.
Rwanda now contains 850 people per square mile, compared with the world average of 107. In the highest part of Sub Saharan Africa, this puts immense pressure on the land. Almost every inch of the landscape has been cultivated (through mass deforestation), leading to soil degradation and often resulting in land slides and water catchment issues.
One of the local women we met told us about a devastating landslide that hit her village during the rainy season last year. Adelphine pointed to what used to be a group of houses and school now in ruins. Her children are now taught outside under a tree (to protect them from the sun) until the school is rebuilt. But the community has to raise the money first and she fears the rain may come again this year....
You see, the majority of the Rwandan population are subsistence farmers only growing food for their own family. This leaves them extremely vulnerable as they have no income when their crops fail or landslides engulf years of growth.
By supporting and strengthening handicraft businesses, our Shared Interest and COFTA project will help create off-farm income, which will allow many people like Adelphine to survive natural disasters. Our Big Lottery Fund project will also give her a sustainable livelihood.
Adelphine fully understands the impact that this will have on her, her family and her community. She has been making baskets for years (a skill passed down through generations) but the cooperative is shaky and they don’t seem to be selling many just now. As we are leaving she says: “This project will help me trade my way out of this life.
“I can be proud as I support my family – I do not want your hand out – but your hand to help us I will take with a smile.�
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