The ADEFAC activities will start in DRC!

Last week, from Sunday 30 May until Friday 4 June, the main technical assistant, Jacqueline LARDIT, and the project manager, Elise MAZEYRAC, of the projet to Support the development of continuous education for the forest and wood sector in Central Africa (ADEFAC) were on mission in Kinshasa, where the were received by the Wood industrials federation (FIB).

During this mission they were received in audience with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Honorable Eve BAZAIBA MASUDI. Like its Secretary General, Her Excellency Madam the Minister insisted on the importance of continuous education to create a mass of good technicians which will allow to develop the sector and attract investors in wood processing. They were also received by the cabinet of the Minister of Professional Education and Jobs who granted them full collaboration in the ADEFAC project.

Representatives of the private sector and training institutions, the direct beneficiaries of the project, were also met. FIB convened a meeting of human resources managers from forestry and industrial companies to discuss the continuous training needs of employees and the functioning of their companies on these issues. During this meeting, Elise and Jacqueline presented one of the actions of the project which will consist of training in strategic workforce planning, from which companies can benefit.

A similar session took place with the president of the Congolese Association of Artisanal Forest Harvesters (ACEFA) and with one of Kinshasa's best-known carpenters and furniture makers, Papa Komanda. Indeed, craft businesses (whether small or medium-sized) are also considered by the ADEFAC project; and their managers will benefit from training support to better assess their production chain in terms of costs and benefits, and to identify where training could create rapid benefits for their companies. The first mission of this kind, which will be implemented by two international experts, is scheduled for the DRC in mid-August of this year 2021.

Several professional training centers were also visited, in particular the INPP and the Don Bosco school in Massina, to learn about the subjects and used methodologies of professional training that are already in place, and to identify which ones may be relevant to the forest-wood sector.

During this week, the President, the Secretary General and several members of FIB were also received by the Deputy Prime Minister, which enabled them to discuss current issues in the forest sector. The Deputy Prime Minister promised them to organize a meeting between her administration and the FIB in the next few days to address these various problems and agree on solutions.