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Identifying skills for the informal economy

Richard Curtain27 Sept 2011

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What skills?

• Income generating skills• Skills to improve food security• Needed in both urban and rural

areas• Need to be specific to each setting

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Skills for food security

• Fresh water security• Traditional methods of acquiring food eg coastal fishing under threat• Need suitable techniques and practices to manage available resources

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Identifying skills to make money

• Need to be careful skills training not driven by available skills of trainers

• Pre-training market analysis needed to identify type of work that will create income

• Feedback loop needed: for example, are there too many carpenters being trained?

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Identifying skills

• Make use of key informants • Identified by their communities as

knowledgeable• Willing and able to talk about skills• Use a number of key informants to

cross check the information• Validate with members of the

community

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Good Example

Lisa King, Outreach and Community Program Specialist ADB Loan No. 1791 RMI Skills Training and Vocational Education Project

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Purpose of study

It is a catalogue of simple, relatively low cost, skills-based trainings that integrate income generating opportunities with identified life skills education whenever possible.

The trainings identified are generally intended to make a difference in a relatively short period of time.

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Target groups

• School dropouts aged 14-24 years

• Student boarders at outer atoll high schools

• Low Income Women (over age 24 yrs)

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Good Example

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Conclusion

• A demand focus needed, not trainers’ skills

• Requires upfront survey• Assess range of options• Key local informants are crucial• Results need to be checked with

community• Lisa King survey a model