Fostering agro-entrepreneurship in Sudan

UNIDO supports value-chain integration, productivity improvement and entrepreneurship development in the agricultural sector in Sudan through the agro-value chains development project in Kassala State, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The project also aims at strengthening access to financial services for agro-entrepreneurs.

To foster the development of agro-entrepreneurship support systems to leverage domestic and foreign direct investment in the agricultural, UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in Bahrain hosted a delegation from Kassala, eastern Sudan, for a five day study tour and capacity building from 19 to 23 June 2022.

The programme encompassed capacity building on  developing conducive ecosystems, provision of non-financial services for sustainable growth of start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and  institutionalizing incubation management systems. It was based on ITPO Bahrain’s successful Enterprise Development & Investment Promotion (EDIP) methodology. In addition, the study tour created a platform for discussions, entailed practical case studies and a site visit to the Bahrain Agro-pole farmer’s market.

Sixteen major local ecosystem players participated in the study tour, representing the Federal Ministry of Industry, the Central Bank of Sudan, the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources Kassala, the Ministry of Finance and Labor Forces Kassala, the University of Kassala and the Entrepreneurship Development Committee Kassala (EDC), a multi-stakeholders institution delivering entrepreneurship support systems started by UNIDO in 2019 and awarded as international best practice during the 2nd Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) open call in 2021.

This study tour is the latest example of the successful collaboration between the project team and ITPO Bahrain. Prior to the study tour, the project team and ITPO Bahrain conducted a training of trainers on enterprise creation and a capacity building program on developing business counselors for the growth of MSMEs. 

To learn more about the EDIP modality, contact ITPO Bahrain (itpo.bahrain [at] unido.org (i)tpo.bahrain [at] unido.org)

For further information contact Fred Kongóngó (F.KONGONGO [at] unido.org (F).Kongongo [at] unido.org)