Range of Service
The department
offers a wide range of services and expertise in support and promotion of
micro-enterprises, and small and medium scale businesses in crafts, trades
and industry. We are active in the third-world countries as well as in
eastern Europe.
The department
- Develops
concepts,
- Conducts
feasibility studies, project evaluations and market analyses,
- Implements
projects and programs,
- Carries out
technical backstopping of projects and
- Performs
research also in cooperation with other organizations (such as ILO and
ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich).
We concentrate
on areas of
- Organizational
development and consulting for (self-help) organizations and
supporting institutions,
- Organizing and
providing technical and business training,
- Concept and
execution of Entrepreneurship Development Programs (i.e. CEFE),
- Development of
financing systems and use of financing instruments for businesses of
the informal sector,
- Conception and
building-up of appropriate marketing systems.
Special emphasis
is placed on the use and the permanent conceptional development of
participatory methods as action research.
Additionally, we
offer advice on:
- Export
promotion,
- Participation
in national and international fairs,
- Appropriate
technology (development, promotion, application),
- Qualitative
data collection methods, and we conduct
- Seminars on
animation techniques
We work on-site
together with governmental and private agencies which support small-scale
business and industry at various levels and represent their interests
(Chamber of Commerce, business organizations, etc.). We also cooperate
with NGOs and self-help groups.
Project Approach
We have made it
our concern to develop and apply holistic, process-oriented and
sustainable concepts for the promotion of micro and small scale businesses
and industries in the formal and informal sector and to give them support
in achieving the term goal reducing poverty.
Our programs and
projects involve several components which are acting at various levels of
the existing social and economic system. Our programs support
micro-enterprises and small and medium-scale businesses by offering
services which further enhance their economically efficient
production.
Through the
development and strengthening of organizations (interest groups and
associations, amongst other), small and medium-scale businesses can become
more influential, achieve changes in restricting framework conditions and
gain easier access to resources. The producers are motivated to form
associations, to take initiatives, and develop abilities to represent
their interests by themselves .
The promotion of
membership (self-help) organizations and supporting institutions through
organizational development measures is one of our primary concerns with
the goal of:
- Developing
service-infrastructure systems through the use of business consulting,
training and education, credit and information systems,
- Establishing
participatory organization structures, and
- Representing
the interests of small and medium-scale enterprises and their workers.
The key to the
success of our projects lies in the use of participatory methods during
the planning, execution and evaluation stages of the activities. The
method pursued by Projekt-Consult GmbH analyses the problems together with
the community concerned, and helps them to work on solutions
independently.
Special
consideration of socio-cultural conditions and betterment for women.
Local resources and
the environmental suitability of the used production methods form the
basis of our consulting expertise.
Department’s
Activities (Extract):
- Small
Enterprise Promotion Project, Yemen. Advisory services to the
relevant authorities and bodies to upgrade the capabilities of small
enterprises in the provinces of Taiz and Aden, institutional
strengthening, training, consultancy services for the enterprises etc.
- Execution of a
project promoting the handicraft industry and the local crafts chamber
in Niger.
- Execution of a
project promoting the National Craftsmen’s Association in Mali.
- Implementation
of a project in Nouakchott/Mauretania to promote small-scale
businesses and organizational development.
- Execution of a
partnership project with the Handicrafts Chamber Reutlingen, Germany (Handwerkskammer)
promoting micro businesses and organizational development in the Rombo-District/Kilimanjaro,
Tanzania.
- Execution of a
project supporting the Social Development Fund in Jordan.
- Research
project „The Organizational Capability of the Informal Sector as a
Prerequisite for its Integration into the Economic and Legal Systems
in Developing Countries“ in cooperation with the ifo Institute for
Economic Research (Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung) Munich,
Germany.
- Export
promotion of Tuareg-Jewelry from Niger i.e. at the
international trade-fairs in Germany.
- Appraisal of a
project on private placement services for women in non-traditional
professions in Pakistan.
- Evaluation of
revolving funds for micro and small enterprises in the formal and
informal sectors in Namibia.
- Monitoring
progress of the project „Non-traditional Craft Professions for Women“
in the Domenican Republic.
- Consulting for
the partnership project between the Handicrafts chamber (Handwerkskammer)
Ulm (Germany) and Olztyn (Poland).
- Socio-economic
evaluation of the project „Expansion of hydraulic-ram technology in
Moyenne Guinée“ in Labé, Guinea-Conakry
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Promotion
of Small-Scale Businesses and Organizational Development