In a new pilot project, women in four of Timor-Leste's district capitals are learning new bookkeeping and marketing skills to boost the productivity of their small businesses. The project teaches women how to add value to local agricultural products and then find new markets for them. It also teaches the women how to work out sales prices based on the cost of ingredients and cooking fuel.

Training Coordinator Joana Cunha and her team from the Social Services Division of the Labor and Solidarity Department specialize in helping illiterate women acquire business skills and confidence. In the first pilot training sessions in Manatutu, 22 women from two self-help groups attended. A week later when the training team arrived in Liquica, more than 40 women had signed up for the two-day workshop. On a visit to the area, US Ambassador to Timor-Leste Grover Joseph Rees opened the Liquica workshop and took the opportunity to talk to the participants about how better skills will improve their businesses.

Training focuses on how to convert fresh local produce into marketable (and storable) commodities and how to price them to sell at a profit. Among the most popular products are:

• abon - a coveted main course made from fish, spices, coconut, and peanuts
• sutati ikan - a thick sauce made from fish and spices
• hudi sona - thin-sliced fried banana chips
• pumpkin and cassava cakes.

The pilot project will also conduct workshops in two other districts, Ermera and Aileu, where participants will learn how to convert the plentiful local papayas into juice. To help them improve and expand future workshops, staff members from the Social Services Division will monitor the success of all the trainees in marketing their value-added products.

USAID supports the Social Services Division pilot project with a $6,000 grant for equipment and training. The grant expands small business opportunities for poor women and stimulates local economic activity.

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