From 13 to 16th December 2022, 97 out of 100 women micro-entrepreneurs from the MUHANGA, KAYONZA, and RWAMAGANA districts were trained in contract farming and negotiation between farmers and buyers.
Women for Women Rwanda is implementing a project entitled “Enabling environments for successful female entrepreneurship in Rwanda” across 7 districts namely: Gasabo, Kicukiro, Bugesera, Rwamagana, Kayonza, Muhanga, and Nyaruguru whereby the end of the project, 1,440 women micro-entrepreneurs increased skills and connections to run successful micro-business. Among the components that are being delivered, Contract negotiation is offered to several 180 selected Micro- women entrepreneurs as practical training to boost their contract negotiation skills, as well as their confidence as businesswomen.
From 13 to 16th December 2022, 97 out of 100 women micro-entrepreneurs from the MUHANGA, KAYONZA, and RWAMAGANA districts were trained in contract farming and negotiation between farmers and buyers.
In Muhanga, the training was officially opened by the Mayor of Muhanga districts, whereby she asked women micro-entrepreneurs to work hard to make good use of skills gained from the training and told them that the district will support them by linking them with buyers.
“If these women are supported in their agriculture sector, they will increase their productivity and we will go hand in hand with them as long as they work and have an impact on a large community” Said KAYITARE Jacqueline, Mayor of Muhanga district.
At the end of this training, women for women expected that the participants will:
- Understand different types of contracts, how are formed and all skills related
- Understand the general terms and structure of an agreement
- Describe all steps involved in an effective contract management
- Explain different negotiation styles and be able to choose which one to fit according to the area of partnership planned
- Understand fully how contract negotiation and management work
- Master all basic articles to be included in a contract while designing it
While conducting this training, WfW-Rwanda uses practical tools and methodologies easily applicable to their business realities as these women are already running their Individual/Cooperative micro-businesses.
After delivering this training, WfW-Rwanda expects that all skills and knowledge that have been given to the cooperative leaders are going to assist them in Contract negotiation that involves them setting terms that both sides agree upon, regularly involving both risks and revenues.
“For us, we never gave importance to written contracts; If a buyer was willing to buy with us, we were very satisfied without considering the importance of having a written contract, but now we are going to consider this and profit from the benefits of having written contracts. We thank Women for Women Rwanda to prepare and conduct this training for us”. Said one participant trained from Rwamagana.
Trained women understood that Individuals and companies negotiate and enter into contracts fairly frequently in the course of business. Some business agreements may be simple enough for the typical person to draft, and may just be a verbal agreement and a handshake, while others may require the help of a skilled contract lawyer.
While there are plenty of individual items inside a contract, they all come down to two things: risks and revenues.
It is important to make sure both parties are on the same page, every step of the way in a negotiation. If one party prefers over-the-phone communication, and the other prefers written, it still needs to be agreed upon that one or the other is the final agreement.