Empowering Women on economic activities for Wealth Creation
Background
Serendipity Healthcare Foundation is a CAC registered not for profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 2003 but established in 2009 as a direct social response to the healthcare issues in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. SHF is based in Kano but with appendices in Abuja and Niger States of Nigeria.
Mission
Our mission is to improve on healthcare delivery services at the rural, peri urban and urban communities on WASH, MCH, sustainable living, poverty eradication and empowerment using best practices available.
Vision
Our vision is to see a Nigerian and ultimately African society where everyone has access to better healthcare systems and equitable lifestyle.
Serendipity is governed by a six man board of trustees and a four man advisory board headed by an Executive director who runs the day to day affairs of the organization.
Board Members - MallamMuhammed Kassim Faruk, Dr. Bashir Sulaiman, Engr. Abubakar Baba Aliyu, Dr.MuhammedZakari, Honourable DanlamiHamza, Samirah Faruk; Advisory Board Members - Alhaji S.M. Suwaid, Barrister O.E.B. Offiong (SAN), Alhaji Ibrahim El- Sudi, Dr Salisu Ahmed Ibrahim.
Permanent Staff Members – Samirah Faruk Executive Director, Niimatullah Umar DanazumiProgramme Officer, Fatima Lawani Fundraising Manager, AbubakarSadiq Suleiman Finance and Admin Officer, Kamal Sani Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, JamiluAdamuResident Volunteer; Temporary Employees Ahmed Abdullahi, Ramatu Imam, JobiFeleItunu, RahamaAbdullahi
Budget
Our current budget and budget for the past three years are as detailed below;
Type of Income / 2015 / 2016 / 2017Grants / $10000 / $10000 / $29,596
Individuals / $3000 / $5000 / $5,000
Organisations / $7000 / $10000 / $10,000
Total / $20000 / $25000 / $44,596
Executive Summary
This project aims to empower 100 women aged between 18 -40 in 10 wards of Tofa village in Tofa Local Government council through a set of innovative and replicable interventions for the development of life skills and self-identity, while enabling them to manage their social and economic well-being. Insecure political atmosphere and poverty have become the major constraints to economic development in the state and local councils and thus accounts for the high rate of poverty and other social vices.
Majority of the women are subsistence farmers, stay at home housewives and illiterates. They do not know about their right or even know who and where to voice their problems. This has an indirect impact on the growth of the community which keeps the cycle of poverty revolving as the women do not have an avenue at which to enhance and uplift their economic status inclusive of their knowledge
Targeted Women are characterized with little or no formal education and have limited built capacities in areas of entrepreneurship, lack of practical technical knowledge and skills of turning groundnut which is one of the staple food crop of the community into processing and other variable product, have not created partnerships and market linkages for resource mobilization and marketing for their products, have limited access to financial support for entrepreneurship development, have limited entrepreneurship and business management skills, fear to take risks involved in starting businesses and lack of capital in form of machineries and equipment for business startup . These challenges identified hinder women to become creative in entrepreneurship development thus widening the gap of poverty.
The project will mobilize 100 women and organize them in business working groups that will further strengthen the existing cooperative group they belong to; train them in group dynamics and leadership for proper business management; equip them with knowledge and skills in groundnut processingto enable them to be more creative in turning challenges into business opportunities thus increasing household income and improved livelihoods.
Serendipity will equip the women group with entrepreneurship, business management knowledge and skills to enable them initiate, manage and replicate their business ventures.
As a strategy for increasing participation, the project will mentor, incubate and counsel the women using business experts, purposely for experienced development and also to attract other women in neighboring communities to come and learn business skills.
Furthermore the created partnership with government will be a platform for disclosing the existing gaps in as far as planning and budgeting for this vulnerable group is concerned, which will enable them refocus and revise the existing developmental policies and programme for the betterment of the women and the communities in general thus reducing the poverty rate at the local council level.
Context
Kano is a state located in the North Western part of Nigeria with a population of about 15 million (Last population census 2006) which is the geographical focus area of our intervention has a huge land mass mostly arid and population growing rapidly against a back drop of poor infrastructure with temperatures as high as 45 degree and annual rainfall varying from 2500-4000mm. Tofa Local government (one of the 44 local governments comprising Kano State) is bordered to the main Kano city from the western hemisphere; Tofa LGA like most of its counterparts highlights the possibility of attaining the dream of economic development for its people for self-reliance and breaking out of poverty. Tofa village comprises 15 settlement villages/wards and the inhabitants currently live below $1 as most of them as subsistence farmers and laborers who work in the local government council office when they are not farming.
Tofa village, one of the settlement villages that comprises the Tofa Local Government was where we had a water and sanitation project, although in terms of health there has been a tremendous improvement in their way of life on hygiene and good hand washing practices but what the community is suffering from is the gender disparity in terms of economic activities. There has been a fierce fight by the previous administrative State Ministry of Women and Youth Affairs to curb and reduce the rate of poverty amongst women in the state through the Federal Government’s initiative focus on Youth and Women empowerment on skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, agriculture to mention a few. This saw 4200 women being trained on poultry management from selected local government areas at the poultry institute Tukwi, and 105 youths on Hospitality and Tourism.
This pragmatic approach has seen a slow but steady growth of empowerment amongst youths and women in the urban communities leaving out the rural areas.
The dearth of poverty amongst women in Tofa remains a threat not only within but also will affect neighboring communities as well which ultimately will lead to maternal and child health being affected, lack of proper parental care, disease, malnutrition, lack of knowledge of fundamental human rights and social services. A particular case in time is about Hafsat a widow with six children who struggles to pay her children school fees because of the little capital that she has in the local processing of groundnut which barely feeds herself and her family leaving little for sale.
The Federal Ministry of Finance states that 45% of the populations live below poverty line of less than $1 a day and 75% of them are women who are the backbone of the Nigerian economy.
Needs Assessment and Problem Statement
Groundnut farmers in Kano state and some key neighboring states typically sell their produce without processing. This is because of a lack of equipment and knowledge on processing. In addition, because of weather conditions, lack of storage capacity, and the often urgent need for cash, farmers try to sell their raw groundnut to avoid spoilage. This has led to low and reduced income accruing to these farmers who are mostly women.
The women of Tofa are challenged with limited leadership and group management skills because they are not in a formal organized group and not trained in group formation and dynamics. This denies them a platform for disclosing the existing gaps in as far as planning and budgeting for vulnerable groups is concerned and a hindrance to business and job creation. They lack the practical technical knowledge and skills of groundnut processing because they have not been trained in this aspect of the value chain before. This hinders them from turning just selling raw groundnuts into other processed products.
The women also have limited access to financial support for entrepreneurship development. It is therefore important to note that the women fear loans because they have no knowledge of loan management and other sources of funding to grow their business, this limits them from tapping the existing funding and grant opportunities from government and other development institutions which denies them the chance to initiate and implement businesses thus widening the unemployment gap leading to abject poverty.
The women also have limited capital in terms of machinery and equipment, because they do not have alternative sources of accessing financial support to purchase the required equipment for business startup thus remaining unproductive.
The women of Tofa have not created partnerships and market linkages because they have no potential business started and have limited information on profitable business enterprise thus remaining unemployed and living in poverty.
Trainings on the processing of groundnut into finished products: roasted groundnuts which can be packaged and sold to retailers and supermarkets; baked groundnut (kulikuli); groundnut flour; and groundnut oil will lead to an increase in income that accrue to these women farmers.
This project will thus empower and train 100 women including providing them with processing and threshing machines so that they can process groundnut to finished products and thus, generate additional income for their respective households.
Justification
Serendipity takes on this particular project focusing to enhance the capacity of the self-help group which comprises of 100 women in Tofa Town of Tofa Local Government Area bringing them to the maximum potentials of achieving economic growth; One of the project’s key objective is to uplift the self-help group through financial management, entrepreneurship and business management, vocational trainings in groundnut processing so that household livelihoods will improve.
This project seeks to address the needs of this specific group of women in Tofa i.e. the at risk population of young women aged between 18-40 years. It does so as it not only believes that young women within this age range are the most powerful force for change on the planet but because they are currently the most at risk. We chose this age range and the community of Tofa Town because interventions are most likely to be effective because they are in the productive age and have shown that irrespective of their low capacity to earn income they were able to form a self-help group called Tofa Women Development Association to help them out of the cycle of poverty.
Many women in rural communities are not taking advantage of entrepreneurial and business skills because there is a huge gap in terms of where to get the knowledge required and who to meet due to inequitable access and opportunities. Therefore a central challenge facing governments, private sector, schools, and communities is to develop a rural friendly method of business development scheme which entails bringing development at the local level to the basic understanding of the communities and thus economic empowerment through business and vocational trainings is the process of preparing these women for a productive livelihood.
The project draws on sustainable development principles as it seeks to support economic development and its indirect and multiplier effect such as job creation and the rural friendly method of business development is in line with this issue as local authorities tends to forsake these areas and the economic flow of these areas depends subsistence farming and limited development opportunities. The project activities will enable internal development and open up avenues for growth beyond just the current practice of production of groundnuts.
This project intends to focus on community development using a unique practical approach aimed at equipping beneficiaries with business entrepreneurial skills in groundnut processing tailored to empower them economically for employment and sustainable income generating activities which has been neglected by the government especially in the rural areas.
The promotion of business entrepreneurship among these 100 women will lead to economic development in the community and the state since the beneficiaries shall be equipped with practical skills to start and sustain their businesses through partnerships which ultimately is the Association that will be formally registered and through channels of product market distribution. This will also enhance the development of an upright society within Kano serving as a model community that can be replicated in other states and which will also propel the country forward in major development areas.
Serendipity’s vision and projects are culturally acceptable, economically viable, measurable, realistic and sustainable; it also falls in line with Nigeria’s development policies and sustainable development goal
Overall Objective
The long term Objective of the project is empower 100 women in Tofa Town through developing their capacity in entrepreneurship skills which in turn will advance the economic growth of the community and ricochet to neighboring communities through groundnut production value chain and transfer of skills to other upcoming women within and neighboring communities.
Specific Objective
-Promoting business development skills through educational and vocational training of the most need, vulnerable and disadvantaged 100 via selection
-100% of the selected women participating in the project become empowered.
-Create market opportunities and partnerships
Indicators
-Indicator 1.1 The self-help group has been formalized and registered with the local council within one month
-Indicator 1.2 Targeted 100 women have been trained within three months on entrepreneurial and business skills
-Indicator 1.3 Targeted 100 women have been trained on the various aspects of groundnut processing with its sustainable methods on reduction of wastage, usage of by products and environmental friendly methods to reduce emission within six months
-Indicator 2.1 Locally fabricated grinding and threshing machine given to the women
-Indicator 2.2 Venue of women center to house the machineries secured by April 2018
-Indicator 2.3 Financial management and monitoring mechanism is in place by end of March, 2018
-Indicator 3.1 Products from the women are showcased at the state ministry of commerce and industry by the end of May, 2018
-Indicator 3.2 Steering committee has been set up to monitor the project after hand over
Sustainability
During the project life cycle, there will be a steering committee that will be set up comprising of the chairman and secretary Tofa Development Association, two staff from the Tofa Local Government Women and Youth unit, the leader and provincial secretary of the women association and a staff of Serendipity that will monitor the 100 women on the use of the entrepreneurial skills taught to them and put into effective use, the usage and maintenance of the machines as well as the cleanliness of the women Centre to curtail contamination of the products. A memorandum of understanding will be signed by all stakeholders in regards to the project, pre project during the project as well as after project hand over on the continuation of transfer of skills, implementation of skills set, maintenance, usage and cleanliness of the women center. As part of the agreement of the MOU will be an acceptable fee that each of the 100 women will contribute as part of the maintenance of the machines after project closure so that it is financially stable.
Expected Results
-Activities for poverty eradication taking better avenues
-Change of lifestyle
-Women with skills will have better self-jobs
-Better achievement through knowledge empowerment
-Understanding and courage to stand, take decision and act
-Increase in income and purchasing power of the women in Tofa Council
100 women in Tofa Town would have been trained and in effect be our trainers who would cascade the effects to other women in neighboring wards.
Impact
At the end of this programme, we are envisaging the expected income that will accrue to the women collectively to be in the range of $2000 within the first year after project closure; It will also help to strengthen relationships between the women members of the same community and also between neighboring communities who would not otherwise have met without the programme. As a result of the training and transfer of skills, the women of Tofa become relevant and autonomous actors in the long term, above all the idea of “working together” is essential, the programme will strengthen the women’s capabilities in terms of governance and social cohesion.