Thereafter, the groves would yield 1.5 tonnes of oranges, rising to nine tonnes by the fifth season. The first hurdle faced by most groups is that of financing the activity. While the project may envisage provision of credit for the groups, experience indicates that initial activities should be funded by group members themselves through savings. This ensures that the scope of the activity is within the group's existing capacity and resources, builds commitment to the group and reduces debt dependency. Another common problem in developing activities is the groups' need for training.
Members often have low literacy and numeracy skills, both of which handicap sound management.
Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of training materials for the rural poor in this field. As a group develops its activities and sees the rewards they bring, it usually begins to undertake additional, more complex enterprises. Group promoters should help their groups examine objectively the feasibility of proposed new activities by assessing the availability of group resources, funding and local markets. It is no easy task to teach groups with limited literacy, numeracy and organizational skills how to manage an enterprise. The project may need to develop training materials and methods tailored to the learning capacities of group members.