BACKGROUND 

"Kurima[1] - Embracing the Transformation of Rural Economies" aims to transform selected rural communities through enhanced access to off-grid solar energy, skills development for resilient agriculture, and better access to business and financial and digital services, with a priority on female-led businesses. 

In Angola, agricultural development is a major national priority set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2023-2027 as an engine for economic diversification in the oil-dependent country. The agricultural census 2019-2020 revealed that over 83% of the rural villages analyzed face of villages do not have any source of electricity, around 11% use private generators and only 3% of villages have a public grid as their source of electricity, 2% of villages have community generators as their source of electricity and 1% have solar panels as their source of electricity. Moreover, nearly 2% of villages have mechanized agricultural equipment, only 3% of them have any storage or processing unit for agricultural products and less than 0.5% of villages have any banking institution.   

Access to clean energy is expected to benefit especially women and young girls. Lack of access to electricity often results in their disproportionate participation in unpaid, time and labor-intensive household chores. Access to alternative sources of energy should ease their burden and free up their time for self-development opportunities. These can include new business development opportunities, and digital and financial services, thus transforming rural economies through the increase in productivity. 

Limited connectivity is a significant constraint that curbs the potential for well-connected and dynamic rural economies that are attractive to investments. Rural communities and cooperatives are still lacking opportunities for business, digital and financial skills development that can enable cooperatives and smallholder farmers to go beyond agricultural production. 

Moreover, the Government of Angola is gradually transferring competencies from national to sub-national institutions, including energy. However, local governments face large knowledge and capacity gaps, particularly in the municipalities that have no access to electricity. 

Within this context, UNDP Angola is 2024 implement the Kurima project in four provinces, including Uíge and Benguela, to improve the productive capacities of the cooperatives through access to off-grid renewable energy, business development services that strengthen their capacities, access to finance and digitalization, addressing gender differences and maximizing opportunities for youth and women participation.

OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS/ DELIVERABLES  

Objective/Purpose

UNDP Angola, through its grant mechanism, is supporting community-led initiatives that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the success of Phase 1, Phase 2 of the Kurima project aims to strengthen the socio-economic development and resilience of rural women and their families in Huila Province, through sustainable agricultural processing, digital entrepreneurship and literacy, increased access to solar energy, promoting eco-tourism and  addressing gender differences and maximizing opportunities for youth and women participation, ensuring the sustainability of the project based on an exit strategy.

To achieve its objective of strengthening the socio-economic resilience and development of rural communities in Bembe and Dombe Grande municipalities, the UNDP-supported intervention will focus on the following three interlinked main results:

·        Result 1: Enhanced community capacity in Humpata Municipality for sustainable agriculture and agri-processing through the deployment and maintenance of solar energy solutions, contributing to increased productivity, improved access to clean water, and strengthened rural livelihoods.

·        Results 2: the GPH – Office of the Vice President of Huila and the Municipal Administration of Lubango supported in promoting actions that create favorable conditions for assisting tourists and initiating concrete measures to turn eco-tourism plans into tangible results.

·        Result 3: INAPEM supported the promotion of incubators and startups engaged in applied research as a pathway for youth entrepreneurship, aimed at fostering the development of sustainable technologies in Angola through direct financing.

·        Result 4: INEFOP supported efforts to promote training in renewable energy, expand the production of broilers and laying hens by increasing the number of chicks, and develop local capacity for feed production through the acquisition of processing equipment.

Result 5: The Science Center in Lubango supported the development of informational and educational booklets and posters on local biodiversity—highlighting its ecological importance, traditional uses, and conservation methods—to be implemented in Tundavala and distributed to local guides