Training creates livelihoods only when people can attend, finish and find work afterwards. Here is what makes the difference.
Green skills training is growing across Africa. Courses in solar installation, climate smart agriculture and waste recovery are easier to find than they were five years ago. Yet a course on offer is not the same as a course people can use. For many women and people on low incomes, the barriers start long before the first session and continue after the certificate is handed over.
The barriers before the course
Time. Women carry most unpaid care work, from childcare to fetching water. Courses scheduled across full weekdays exclude many of them before they apply.
Distance and cost. Training held in regional capitals means transport fares, and sometimes accommodation, that rural participants cannot cover.
Entry requirements. Asking for formal qualifications screens out capable people who left school early.
Language. Courses taught only in English leave out participants who learn best in the languages they speak at home.
What makes training work
From our cohort programmes, a few lessons stand out.
Link training to real demand. Courses are most useful when they are designed with the enterprises, cooperatives and public agencies that will hire graduates or buy their services.
Make it practical and recognised. Participants need time with the actual equipment and a certificate that employers and customers trust.
Bring the training closer. Holding sessions in district towns, at times that fit around farming and care work, keeps more people enrolled.
Plan for childcare. Even simple arrangements, such as a supervised space during sessions, change who can attend.
The barriers after the course
A certificate is only the start. Graduates often lack the tools, the start up capital or the contacts to turn a skill into an income. Mentoring, introductions to employers, small equipment grants and help registering a business often make the difference between a certificate and a livelihood.
Follow up also shows what worked. Tracking graduates for six to twelve months, even with a short phone survey, tells programmes and funders whether training led to work.
What can be done
Green jobs will only reduce vulnerability if the people most exposed to climate change can reach them.
References
Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (2021). National Green Jobs Strategy 2021 to 2025. Accra: Government of Ghana, with the International Labour Organization.
