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Microenterprise in a post-emergency envIronment
01.12.1997
Much has been written about microenterprise support in diverse settings around the world. They tend to address the issues faced in setting up small businesses where there are certain desirable pre-existing conditions, such as access to essential supplies, a stable and functioning economy, the availability of support services, financial institutions offering credit facilities, and so on. This article describes the experience of microenterprise promotion in a post-emergency context where such conditions do not exist. The 'Projecto de Iniciativa Comunitária - Malange' (PICM) is a 'development relief' programme which extends microenterprise and skills training opportunities to the poorest members of society as part of a wider effort to reactivate the local economy which is in ruins after a prolonged and devastating civil war. It will be shown that while a microenterprise programme may be inappropriate on purely economic grounds, it still has a valid contribution to any attempts towards normalizing life after the conflict-based emergencies faced today.