HERA Project

by advocacy | 10 Sep 2026 | News

A group of people sit on the wooden floor inside a simple open‑sided structure with a metal roof, listening to a presenter standing at the front. Two other individuals stand nearby observing. Behind the presenter are posters with images and text used for the session. The setting appears rural, with wooden walls and natural light entering the space.

Following the successful implementation of activities in the first quarter, the Her Enterprise for Reinvestment & Advancement (HERA) Project has continued to build on its progress from January–March 2026. The foundations established in Q1—particularly the start‑up capital distribution, initial coaching, agricultural training, and the formation of savings groups—created strong momentum for women’s economic empowerment in the target communities. As we moved into the second quarter, the project team focused on deepening technical support, strengthening business performance, and reinforcing community‑led financial systems to ensure long‑term sustainability. This report outlines the achievements, challenges, and continued growth observed from April to June 2026.

Executive Summary
The women’s local production and businesses continue to grow, positively impacting their livelihoods, economic resilience, and self‑confidence. Continuous coaching and home visits have provided them with more practical knowledge and strengthened their technical skills, helping their businesses grow and supporting greater financial independence in the future.

Many women reported higher productivity, improved business performance, and increased household income from cultivation. They successfully produced a variety of crops and livestock, generating good income due to strong market demand, despite facing several challenges such as seasonal disease outbreaks, weather conditions, pest infestations, and rising agricultural costs. At the same time, women operating small businesses and mobile selling activities also experienced positive business growth through increased sales and profits.

Meanwhile, the project team provided six refresher trainings to strengthen women’s agricultural knowledge and practical skills based on issues identified during home visits, aiming to improve the quality of local production.

Furthermore, we are proud of the savings groups’ operations, which have maintained good financial management, accurate record‑keeping, transparency, and accountability. These efforts contribute to long‑term sustainability and growth. The groups also plan to use the revolving fund to support other vulnerable women in their communities, reflecting strong solidarity, local ownership, and commitment to improving livelihoods.

Home Visit and Monitoring

Two people sit inside a small market stall filled with hanging goods, packaged items, and household products. One person writes in a notebook on a red plastic chair, while the other sits at a wooden table with papers and notebooks. Shelves of merchandise, a large water container, a fan, and a basket of mangoes surround them. A child and a dog are visible in the background near sacks of goods.
To strengthen women’s business progress, household income, and the long‑term sustainability of income‑generating activities, the project team, together with the local commune agriculture officer, conducted 100 home visits to 50 target women. These visits focused on observation, coaching, and providing technical support for timely problem‑solving and practical solutions to improve their business activities.

Women engaging in pig fattening earned USD 550–600 from four fattened pigs over a period of three to four months, and piglets also generated increased income. However, they reported issues related to pig health and seasonal infectious diseases that affected livestock productivity, especially young piglets, as well as rising feed prices, which reduced their expected income.

Women growing vegetables such as watermelon, corn, melon, cucumber, long beans, peppers, pumpkins, and eggplants achieved good yields and earned good income due to strong market demand and satisfactory harvests. Despite this, they highlighted several production challenges, particularly prolonged hot and dry weather, insect infestations, and rising fertiliser and pesticide prices, which reduced crop quality and yields.

Women also reported increased sales and profits from their local businesses and mobile motorcycle vending activities, selling vegetables, fish, pork, watermelon, and boiled corn. These businesses have provided reliable household income, strengthened families’ financial security, and created opportunities for future business expansion.

Refresher Training & Capacity Building

A group of people sit on the tiled floor of an open community hall, listening to a presenter who points to a large poster displayed on a column. Two additional posters with illustrations and text hang beside it. Colourful triangular flags are strung across the ceiling. The presenter wears a beige shirt with a flag patch, and the audience appears attentive during the training session.
In this quarter, the project team provided six refresher trainings to strengthen the knowledge and practical skills of women based on issues identified during home visits, aiming to improve the quality of local production.

The trainings focused on:

Animal husbandry
Livestock health care and disease prevention
Farm and environmental hygiene and sanitation
Disease identification, treatment, and vaccination schedules
Land preparation and soil fertility management
Selection of high‑yielding or drought‑resistant varieties
Planting practices and drainage improvement
Pest and disease management
Crop nutrition and production planning based on market demand

Women who achieved good livestock raising and crop production shared successful experiences and best practices with other beneficiaries, and encouraged them to visit their successful practices.

A total of 154 participants, including 50 direct project beneficiaries, attended the trainings.

Savings Groups Formation

A group of people sit on a tiled floor in a shaded open area while one person in a yellow jacket holds a stack of banknotes. Others reach toward the money, and another person writes on a clipboard. More people sit or stand in the background, with trees visible outside the structure. The scene appears to show a communal financial activity, such as a savings group meeting.
The project team continued regular follow‑up with the five community savings groups to ensure effective operation. The team observed that the groups maintained accurate financial records, transparency, and accountability, addressed emerging challenges, and promoted the long‑term sustainability and growth of the savings groups.

Since the savings groups were established, they have collected USD 1,875 in savings from income earned through local production and business activities. Group leaders informed members that savings are available for business expansion, and members may request loans at a low‑interest rate of 3% per month, allowing the savings to grow further and helping other vulnerable women in their communities to start new businesses.

Based on the progress of the savings groups, we expect the revolving fund to continue growing and strengthening women’s financial resilience, including sustainable support for future local production and business activities within their communities and long‑term livelihood security.

Next Quarter
The project cycle will focus on the following activities for the new beneficiaries:

Continuing to work with local authorities to select 50 new eligible women for the next phase of the project
Creating a network connection with authorities, agricultural specialists, and new community facilitators to address challenges faced by women beneficiaries in the communities
Continuing mentoring and coaching support for women engaged in business, agricultural, and livestock activities to improve productivity