How single mothers in the remote areas of Kibuku district have been Financial empowered through Mushroom growing

To combat unemployment, the Girls2Women Initiative runs 6- to 12-week training programs for girls and women in underserved communities in Nigeria. During this time they learn skills they can use to find a job or start their own business in industries like graphic design, decor, and tailoring.

Local organizations such as Mujeres Rurales Argentinas and the provincial Ministry of Agriculture's Gender Cabinet are empowering rural women through artisanal tea production. By offering training programs structured around women's caregiving schedules, creating spaces for gender-inclusive collaboration, and advocating for policy changes, these groups have helped increase women's leadership roles in tea production, as more than half of artisan producers are now women.

Mutindo Women aims to increase representation in the construction and real estate industries by connecting women to networking and job opportunities. Mutindo Women has built over 15 houses across the country since forming in 2019, and has even collaborated on projects with men in the field.

The nonprofit Marine Cultures is teaching single mothers and divorced women in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to farm sea sponges to increase their income and improve gender equality. Sea sponges are a better option than typical seaweed farming because they are more resilient to climate change impacts like increasing water temperatures.

Benevolence Farm hosts a small number of formerly incarcerated women as live-in laborers growing herbs that end up in body-care products. The farming experience teaches marketable skills, as the women learn the finer points of horticulture. It also provides outdoor, hands-on experiences that are therapeutic to women after they spent months or years locked up in a sterile prison. The rural location poses some challenges, but the dozens of women who have spent 12-18 months living and working there have shown much lower-than-average rates of recidivism.

Though the overall poverty rate has been dropping in recent years, rural communities in Uganda still lack many basic resources, including access to healthy food, toiletries, and economic opportunity. The Network of Women in Agribusiness and Development was founded by women to empower and support their sisters through educational initiatives, agricultural training, and the provision of items such as pigs and fruit trees to help them break the cycle of poverty.

Targeted plumbing training programs are providing women with life-changing skills, independence, and career opportunities. Led by initiatives such as the German government aid agency GIZ and the Wise Women Plumbers Cooperative, hundreds of women have become licensed plumbers, overcoming societal stigma to gain economic empowerment, improve local water management, and shift perceptions around women's roles.

The nonprofit GiveDirectly provides refugees with cash to help them sustain themselves, focusing on those living in cities, as they’re less likely to receive the same assistance as humanitarian camps do. Nearly 1,200 people were given $925 to spend however they wanted — some opening bank accounts, others starting businesses — and reported they were able to nearly double their monthly income and after six months, 88% of recipients were earning more money than ever before.

About 10,000 women from rural areas in India are training to be agricultural drone pilots as a part of the government-run Drone Didi program. The job provides them with financial independence and greater respect from their communities.

In an effort to break the cycle of poverty and combat gender stereotypes and stigma, several women are entering the commercial transportation industry by driving tricycles around the city to offer rides to locals. By working, these women are earning more money for their families, helping to ensure there’s food on the table and that they can afford to send their children to school.