SEARChED – Strengthening Employment and entrepreneurial Activities to Recover COVID-19 Epidemic Damages

The SEARChED project aims to promote the economic growth of enterprises and improve the business environment by developing resources and services for MSMEs, focusing on the agri-food sector in Tunisia and Jordan, and the energy efficiency sector in Lebanon, to enable income generation and job creation. It will also provide capacity-building, coaching and training programmes for unemployed people to strengthen their skills and improve employment opportunities. There will be a specific focus on including women and women-owned businesses.

The project targets sectors that are fundamental to enhancing the resilience of the targeted countries in the face of climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity and migration – issues that have been exacerbated by the pandemic and deeply affect the most vulnerable groups of the population.

Tunisia and Jordan both face conditions of water scarcity, and increasing domestic demand for water is reducing the water allocated for agriculture, an important sector of the economy. Water protection is therefore a priority in order to increase agricultural productivity. Other challenges in the sector include low competitiveness due to low level of technical knowledge, insufficient diffusion of modern production and transformation techniques, scarce level of aggregation for adequate access to markets, lack of innovation and technical support, and difficult access to financial support.

In Lebanon, there is an unsatisfied demand for electricity, high generation costs, and a lack of financial sustainability for private sector growth. Energy supply and final consumption are almost totally dependent on imported oil products, and renewable energy sources remain underexploited. Reducing energy generation and consumption costs is key to allow Lebanese enterprises to become more competitive and boost the business environment.