Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Taiwan ICDF Microfinance Project has partnered with the Eswatini Standards Authority (SWASA) in an initiative aimed at assisting rural women entrepreneurs attain standards certification for their products.
Three groups namely, Sibakho Madlenya, Mambane Bhakani and Khonzekhaya Indigenous Chicken from the Lubombo region were identified to be part of this initiative.
Taiwan ICDF Microfinance Project Advisor Grace Dludlu said these entrepreneurs contributed to the country’s economy hence they cannot be overlooked. She, however, noted they were disadvantaged due to a lot of negative external and internal factors.
She mentioned that ideas and creativity alone were not enough to formulate success, but proper knowledge and valuable skills could lead to quality products. “Having the ability to understand the importance of standards in a business is crucial in the growth of an entrepreneur.
“The process of acquiring standards was not an easy one and through this project, we are determined to help the rural women acquire certificates for their various products.
This is mainly because once approved by the Standard Authority, it will be easy to penetrate local and international markets,” she said. Standards Meanwhile, ESWASA Quality Assurance Manager Tony Maseko clarified that the organisation was a member of ISO (world standard) and also an outstanding service provider in quality standards.
He explained that a standard was a document established by consensus and approved by a recognised body for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results aimed at the achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context.
“There are three types of standards, namely; product standards, management system standards which is how the business can produce quality and safe products and process standards,” he said. Further, he said there was a need for standards in order to ensure the health and safety of humans, consumers and animals, and protection of the environment and consistency of practice.
He said conformity to standards helped businesses to build consumer confidence, meet customers’ and regulatory requirements, reduce costs and gain market access across the world.
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