The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread loss of human life and has disrupted the socio-economic condition of people across the world. The pandemic is adversely impacting mankind globally, but the informal economy workers are the worst hit and are at the highest risk of facing extreme poverty. So, we have this project to help you. The project has bunches of solution in the form of objective, activities and results. The project goal is Enhancing livelihoods of the migrants and vulnerable communities in Tanzania, through the establishment of Mask and Soap Making Units in wards with project objectives like to build capacities of 500 individuals through training on various aspects of mask and soap making and to establish viable offline and online market linkages, to sell the masks and handmade soaps both locally and internationally. Through this sample proposal we want to achieve the following results like Income of the 500 individuals increased by 30%; Local production of essential safety items to prevent the spread of Coronavirus by 40%; Market linkages both offline and online established and Awareness related to COVID-19 improved.
Project Summary:
The proposed project is an initiative of XYZ Foundation, as a response to deal with the economic crisis created as a result of COVID-19 in Tanzania. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the health and socio-economic conditions of humankind across the globe. Studies reveal that individuals and communities will take a long time to recover from the economic crisis that the pandemic has created. To help the most vulnerable communities in Tanzania, to respond to the economic crisis and to improve their livelihoods, XYZ proposes to establish Mask and Soap Making Units (MSU) in 10 wards in Kibonodo District of Kiboma Region. Use of masks and soaps will continue for a long time to come and there will be a huge demand for the same. Establishment of local units to produce local masks and handmade soaps will prove to be a suitable intervention to improve the livelihoods of the vulnerable communities in the Kiboma Region of Tanzania. The proposed project seeks support of US$ 0000 for a period of 8 months.
Project Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread loss of human life and has disrupted the socio-economic condition of people across the world. The pandemic is adversely impacting mankind globally, but the informal economy workers are the worst hit and are at the highest risk of facing extreme poverty. These people do not have access to social protection and health care owing to which they are the most vulnerable to the ongoing crisis. There has been unprecedented loss of livelihoods and millions of people in the informal sector have been forcefully displaced due to absence of work, lack of social security options, little or no access to health care and poor working conditions.
A World Bank statement published in October 2020 states that the Pandemic could increase the number of undernourished people by upto 132 million by the end of the year. It further states that nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. Furthermore, the World Bank has estimated that the global extreme poverty will rise for the first time in over 20 years in 2021.
The existing crisis calls for developing solutions that can reduce the vulnerability of the marginalized communities and offer them alternate sources of income that can help them to move out of poverty. Along with extending the safety nets for the vulnerable communities, it is crucial that unskilled workforce is trained in suitable trades so as to offer them employment opportunities both during the pandemic and post pandemic.
Impact of COVID-19 in Tanzania
Tanzania is a low income country and faces severe poverty. As per The Centre for Social Science Research, “Tanzania is a low-income country with a GDP per capita income of US$ 1,334 and among the poorest in Africa. Despite consistent annual growth rates of above 6 percent since 2001, poverty levels have remained stubbornly high (Malik & UNDP, 2013). Throughout the 2000s close to one third of the population (34.4 percent) live below the poverty line.” The Pandemic has negatively impacted the development projects being implemented in Tanzania. According to the 14th Tanzania Economic Update (TEU) that the GDP of the country has fallen down from 6.9% in 2019 to 2.5% in 2020, as a result of COVID-19. The report further states that in the absence of poor policy response against COVID-19, the country will face a slower growth rate. The World Bank has also projected that COVID-19 could spark the first recession in Sub Saharan Africa in 25 years, with a decline in regional growth from 2.4% in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1% in 2020.
The TEU further states that an additional 500,000 people in Tanzania, could fall into extreme poverty as a result of loss of employment opportunities because of COVID-19. The world has seen a drastic change in the habits of the people with respect to maintaining hygiene and sanitation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus, which has led to an increase in the demand of essential safety items like masks, gloves, soaps, sanitizers and detergents. Production of the essential safety items locally can be a suitable solution to help the vulnerable communities in Tanzania to cope with the existing crisis. Training the local communities in the production of handmade soaps and masks can effectively facilitate in rebuilding and restoring the livelihoods of thousands of people in the region.
Project Area
Kigoma region has a total population of 2,127,930. Ha people are the largest ethnic group living here. Other major populations are those of Wamanyema, Watongwe and Wavinza, Sukuma and Haya. Approximately 150,000 refugees from Burundi and almost another 80,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo reside in three refugee camps in the Kigoma region, named Nyarugusu, Mtendeli and Nduta.
Kibondo District is one of the six districts of Kigoma Region, Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Kakonko District, to the east by the Tabora Region, to the south by the Uvinza District, to the west by the Kasulu District and to the northwest by Burundi. As of 2002, the population of Kibondo District was 414,764. Kibondo District is administratively divided into nineteen wards.
XYZ will be implementing the project in the following 10 wards:
- Bunyambo
- Busagra
- Kitale
- Itaba
- Kibondo Mjini
- Kitahana
- Kagezi
- Busunzu
- Kizazi
- Kumzenga
Project description
Considering the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the livelihoods and the socio- economic conditions of the area, XYZ has identified a suitable solution to provide sustained income to the deprived individuals in the Kibondo district. Since the pandemic started in 2019, there has been a huge demand for masks and soaps across the world, to prevent the spread of the CoronaVirus. The huge demand of essential safety items presents a great opportunity to scale up the production of locally made soaps and masks. The proposed project has been developed considering that setting up of mask and soap making units, would not only help in meeting the demand of essential safety items both within and outside the community, but will also enhance the livelihoods of the selected beneficiaries. Use of masks and soaps will continue for a long time to come and there will be a huge demand for the same. Establishment of local units to produce local masks and handmade soaps will prove to be a suitable intervention to improve the livelihoods of the vulnerable communities in the Kiboma Region of Tanzania.
Target Beneficiary
XYZ foundation will be working with 50 beneficiaries from each of the 10 wards, which is 500 beneficiaries in all. These 500 beneficiaries will be identified after a careful assessment of their existing financial situation and the impact of COVID-19 on their livelihoods. Only those individuals will be selected who fall in one of the following categories:
- Forcefully displaced during the COVID-19
- Loss of Job/Work during the COVID-19
- Death of family head due to COVID-19
- Extremely poor household with no existing source of livelihood
- Refugees
Project Goal: Enhancing livelihoods of the migrants and vulnerable communities in Tanzania, through the establishment of 10 Mask and Soap Making Units in 10 wards in Kibondo District of Kiboma Region.
Project Objectives
- To build capacities of 500 individuals through training on various aspects of mask and soap making.
- To institutionalize 10 fully functional local mask and soap making units in the 10 wards in Kibondo District.
- To establish viable offline and online market linkages, to sell the masks and handmade soaps both locally and internationally.
Project Activities
Objective 1: To build capacities of 500 individuals through training on various aspects of mask and soap making. The following activities will have to be undertaken to successfully deliver the first objective of the project.
Activity 1: Undertake a detailed study/community assessment to understand the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Kibondo District, Tanzania.
- Our project team will undertake a data collection drive to gather information related to the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Analysis of the data to get a better understanding of existing socio-economic status in the 10 wards.
- Identification of 500 individuals to be trained during the training program. Priority will be given to the individuals that have been the most impacted during the pandemic and fit into the categories that have been mentioned earlier.
Activity 2: Conduct training workshops on various aspects of mask making and soap making: Training program of 6 days will be conducted for each of the 10 wards. For each ward 30 individuals will be trained on aspects of mask making and 20 individuals will be trained on aspects of soap making.
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- Mask Making- Sustainable materials to be used for making masks, Stitching and Layering of masks, Designing of Masks, Border placement, Size and measurement.
- Soap Making- The training will be related to the ingredients required for making a natural soap, measurement of ingredients, process, treatment and packaging of the soaps.
Objective 2: To institutionalize 10 fully functional local Mask and Soap making Units (MSU) in the 10 wards in Kibondo District. The following set of activities have been planned to successfully achieve objective 2.
Activity 1. Formation and orientation of members: The identified members will be grouped together to form a Mask and Soap Making Unit (MSU) in each ward. The members of the MSU will be trained on various aspects of group management and cooperation. Project staff will motivate the members to work collectively in order to improve their incomes.
Activity 2. Developing MSU guidelines: To ensure smooth functioning of the MSU, it is essential that a set of rules and regulations are drafted. This set of guidelines will help in the effective management and administration of the MSU. MSU members will suggest feasible rules for running their mask and soap unit sustainably. The rules will contain the details on the following: Working hours, Weekly target of masks and soaps, Batches for working in the unit, reserve funding, introduction of new members etc.
Activity 3. Identification and capacity building of Group Leaders: To ensure that MSUs work efficiently and there is proper communication with the project team, two group leaders (one for the masks and one for soaps) will be selected from each MSU. The role of these leaders will be ensuring that the MSUs follow the guidelines properly and a proper communication channel is maintained with the NGO project team. The leaders will also help in giving weekly targets of soaps and masks to be made by the individual members.
Activity 4. Establishment of mask and soap making unit: Once the members have been trained on all aspects of mask making and soap making units will be set up in all the 10 wards. The following equipment and material will be procured at a reasonable price for the units.
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors
- Thread
- Pure Cotton Cloth
- Soap Moulds
- Thermometer
- Measuring Cups
- Soap Cutters
- Raw Material for Soaps (Oils, Essential Oils, Natural Dyes, Lye)
- Mixers
- Mats
- Iron Racks
Activity 6. Production of masks and soaps: The first few lots of soaps and masks will be shared with families of the beneficiaries and will also be sent for quality check and clearance from labs. Once both the products clear the testing criteria, bulk production in the ten units will be initiated.
Objective 3: To establish viable offline and online market linkages, to sell the masks and handmade soaps both locally and internationally. Following activities will be completed to achieve objective 3.
Activity 1. Networking for developing offline market Linkages: Proper market linkages will have to be developed to ensure that the masks and the soaps produced by the 10 units are sold at a proper price and there is a constant demand for the products.
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- Networking with local schools, government hospitals and offices.
- Local pharmacies and chemist shops.
- Partnership with local factories and offices to buy safety items for staff.
Activity 2. Developing an online platform for sale of products: Considering the COVID Pandemic is still going on and there will be a continuous requirement for both the masks and the soaps, we will also be selling the products through online platforms. Our project team will collaborate with some online platforms that will help in selling our products online to both domestic and international clients.
Project Results
- Income of the 500 individuals increased by 30%.
- Local production of essential safety items to prevent the spread of CoronaVirus by 40%.
- 10 Fully functional Mask and Soap Units established.
- Market linkages both offline and online established.
- Awareness related to COVID-19 improved.
Monitoring & Evaluation
The project team will regularly update the progress made against stated objectives of the project and will make adjustments to tackle any delay in the deliverable. There will also be a multilevel review and evaluation system that will help in keeping track of the project and also advising amendments to cope with any challenge. The multi-level review system will comprise of the MSU team leaders, Project Manager and Two members from MSU (on a rotating matter).
Sustainability
Establishment of MSU will help in long term sustenance of the project even after the implementation agency exits the place. As there is already an existing market for essential safety items, the MSUs will continue to produce and supply masks and soaps both for local consumption and also for demand in the International market. Depending on the market requirement, the project team will work on developing new designs and fragrances for masks and soaps, so that MSU constantly updates its skills and is able to cope with the changing market demand.
Project Implementing Agency (PIA)
XYZ foundation is a non-profit, and non- governmental charitable organization, working in Tanzania. XYZ was established in the year 2000 with a view to alleviate poverty from the backward regions of Tanzania. Over the last two decades, we are striving to empower the illiterate and poverty stricken people of this region, and mainstreaming them into the society.
Objectives of the Organization:
- To work towards up-liftment of refugees and migrant population.
- To support government agencies in implementing their projects and schemes in the local area.
- To disseminate information on government schemes, policy, acts to the local people.
