CCFU Equips Kayirabwa Chimpanzee Women & Kayirabwa Community Conservancy Association with Enterprise and Financial Management Skills

Kakumiro District, Uganda: Forty members of the Kayirabwa Chimpanzee Women Enterprise & Kayirabwa Community Conservancy have completed a two-day training aimed at strengthening their business management and financial skills. The training, held from 24–25 June 2026, was organized by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) under the Consolidating the Cultural Approach to Chimpanzee Conservation in the Rwenzori and Bunyoro Regions of Uganda project.

The participants represented a range of community enterprises, including arts and craft, village SACCO, traditional music and dance troupe, and tree nursery-bed management. The training sought to strengthen their capacity to manage these enterprises more effectively while supporting community-led conservation initiatives. Sessions focused on enterprise development, value addition, financial management, team dynamics, leadership, and record keeping.

Opening the training, CCFU’s Executive Director, Mrs. Barbra Babweteera Mutambi, introduced participants to the organization’s programme areas and explained how the project links improved livelihoods with chimpanzee conservation. She also facilitated a session on group dynamics, taking participants through the different stages of team development; forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning while highlighting how group behaviour and dominant individual member traits can reveal the stage of development a team is in.

The District Commercial Officer – Kakumiro, Mr. George Mutakooha, led participants through aspects of business and financial management. His presentations covered the importance of saving, where and how much to save, business continuity, the Know Your Customer (KYC) concept, fundraising for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), record keeping, enterprise selection, value addition, risk management, marketing, and branding. He concluded by emphasizing the QQC principle (Quality, Quantity, and Consistency) as a key ingredient for building successful enterprises and maintaining customer confidence.

During the reflection session, participants demonstrated a good understanding of the topics covered. Many were able to distinguish between needs and wants, explain the basic principles of SACCO management, describe the stages of team development, and discuss how the QQC principle can improve the quality and marketability of their products and services.

Closing the training, Ms. Joyce Nabakooza, Woman District Councilor for Kasambya Sub-county, thanked CCFU for extending development initiatives to the area. She commended the organization for previous interventions, including the EKITERRA Cup, noting that such activities have strengthened community participation in conservation. Ms. Nabakooza said the QQC concept was her key take away from the training and pledged to work closely with the local association members to advance conservation efforts. She particularly highlighted the need for collaborative community patrols to curb illegal charcoal burning, which she noted has increasingly been carried out by people from outside the area.

The training forms part of CCFU’s broader efforts to demonstrate that improving community livelihoods and strengthening local enterprises can complement cultural approaches to biodiversity conservation. By supporting women engaged in arts and craft, savings and credit services, and traditional music and dance, the project aims to build resilient enterprises that contribute to household incomes while promoting the conservation of chimpanzee habitats.