The Natural Resource Women Platform (NRWP), through its Community Advocacy for Land and Livelihood Support (CALLS) Project, has successfully concluded a two-day Baking Skills Training in Dede Town, Weala District, Margibi County.

Held on October 1&2, 2025, the intensive training initiative brought together 21 women from 13 communities including Monkey-tail, Dedeta 1&2, Jorkpolorsue, Ansata, Dokai-ta, Gleegba, Jeh-Jeh, Gborbor, Bondolo, Blomue, Kuwah-ta, and Bapolu, significantly impacted by the Salala Rubber Corporation (now Jetty Rubber LCC) Concession. These women have often faced challenges, including forced relocation and severe disruption to their traditional livelihoods.

Building Economic Resilience and Self-Reliance

This initiative falls under NRWP’s “Livelihood Start-Up Support for Women” component, which aims to achieve several critical goals:

• Strengthen women’s economic resilience.
• Promote self-reliance and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Enhance women’s active participation in community advocacy for equitable access to land and natural resources.

Over the two days, participants received practical, hands-on instruction in preparing popular baked goods, including Shortbread, Cornbread, and Doughnuts. Crucially, the curriculum also included essential lessons on food hygiene, safety, and equipment handling.

To enable immediate action, each participant received a starter kit containing the necessary baking tools and ingredients to launch small-scale production right away.

Measurable Impact

The training successfully enhanced participants’ technical competencies, hygiene awareness, and confidence to initiate income-generating activities. Furthermore, it deepened their understanding of the vital link between economic empowerment and effective advocacy, inspiring greater participation in local decision-making processes.

Participants universally expressed deep satisfaction with the practical skills they gained, which will allow them to start or expand small businesses immediately.

“I am happy that I was able to learn new skills like baking. The start-up materials will be used to begin my little business.” A participant from Dedeta 2

“I’m happy about the baking training. Before, I only knew how to fix kala, but now I have learned additions to the kala, which is to bake shortbread, cornbread, and yeast doughnut.” A participant from Ansata

“I am feeling good about the training because I didn’t know how to bake. Through these skills and the material, I will start my small business.” A participant from Dokai-ta

“I feel good about the training because tomorrow it will benefit me and my family. With the materials I was given, I will start to bake to sell and buy more materials.” A participant from Monkey-tail

This initiative is a powerful demonstration of NRWP’s unwavering commitment to promoting practical, gender-responsive livelihood empowerment for women affected by concession activities in Liberia. The organization extends its heartfelt appreciation to all donors and partners for their continued support in advancing women’s economic empowerment and community resilience.