The goal of project to help rural women achieve their financial independence and security by helping them build skills and resources to start microenterprises and microfinance. The objective of proposal is support, train and empower vulnerable women and old people and their families to fight poverty, discrimination, all forms of violence and enjoy a healthy environment to live in; To undertake training, empowerment and capacity building for both short- and long-term periods in the formation and strengthening for the common interests of only the beneficiaries. To achieve the strategy, the project has components like conducting a economic assessment to identify vulnerable cases, skills and business trainings, capacity building in business development and increasing access to micro credit for business start-up. Both group and individual businesses will be help through this project as we continue working with current already established businesses through expansion of our training in business management, skills development, marketing, and product diversification.
Overview
In Kenya, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are mostly charitable in nature and have resulted directly and indirectly in the creation of employments and significant increases in income for women and families. These projects have given many women their first jobs and income, the unprecedented to add often been the only source of family income. Despite the effort made by the community and already registered organizations, there is tremendous unrealized ability to create additional empowerment programs for sustainable economic and entrepreneurship for women in Nyanza region. Projects have underscored significant capacity and motivation among women to break the poverty cycle and build a better life through empowerment and skill development projects.
The project’s goal is to help rural women in Nyanza region achieve their financial independence and security by helping them build skills and resources to start microenterprises/microfinance. The project respectively seeks funding from the Global Fund Organizations, Companies, Churches and Local Organizations to provide training for over 200 women entrepreneurs, help establish 100 new businesses, and create 300 new jobs for women in the next five years.
The Challenges
Women in Nyanza region face a lot of significant economic challenges—mobilization, skill development, empowerments, access to capital, access to market and technical information. In Kenya, men enjoy the ownership of land title DEED, car logbooks and any other family property which are usually asked as guarantee by most banks. These have put unprecedented burdens and limitations on women. For women, the challenges are even greater because the men in the region are even more over powered excluding women from economic opportunities, women struggle to maintain households and have few opportunities to develop skills and earn a living. Just a hand full of women work outside of the home and when forced to casual laborer market to support their families and fill labor gaps, they are often the first to lose their jobs during economic constrains. In most cases women work for more hours and are unpaid or if lucky, they are underpaid.
Why Now?
Timely action is important for two reasons.
First, with the intense recruitment and building relationship with the community, it’s very critical time to help vulnerable rural women find way to survive. Our grass root beneficiaries want to move beyond the poverty impasse. The implementing organization is ready to work with them in this juncture to build a lasting solution to oppression, discrimination, poverty, abandonment and hunger by securing financial freedom and independency for these women.
Second, through training and empowerment we strongly believe that freedom and independency is within reach. Their success can serve as an example to other women and soon they will be able to mentor others economically through businesses associations and skill development.
Key to the success of this project is developing ongoing peer mentorship to launch a new generation of women’s self-sustainability.
Project Goals
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- To support, train and empower vulnerable women and old people and their families to fight poverty, discrimination, all forms of violence and enjoy a healthy environment to live in.
- To undertake training, empowerment and capacity building for both short- and long-term periods in the formation and strengthening for the common interests of only the beneficiaries.
- To efficiently participate, lobby and advocate for the implementation of the plans action on the group within Project area.
- To organize program and execute training for the targeted group in skills and positive attitude necessary for the success of their own development which can then impact their lives.
- To acquire own, hire or buy properties, movable and immovable for the purpose of achieving the objectives of the project.
- To raise funds and encourage fundraising activities to meet the obligations and objectives of the project.
- To protect the interests and the whole being of the beneficiaries.
Project Objectives and Activities
Our tailored strategy has four objectives: conducting a regional economic assessment to identify vulnerable cases, skills and business trainings, capacity building in business development and increasing access to micro credit for business start-up.
Objective 1: Conducting Regional Economic Assessment
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- To initiate the project, PENDO team led by the founder members and the community with the help of identified group members- in an assessment to identify the vulnerable cases mainly in the rural parts of Migori County. The process was organized as a self-assessment to the identified families.
- The assessment will help the organization to evaluate into depth the vulnerability of each family with a specific focus on opportunities for women.
- Home Visits: The organization organizes and conducts one home visit per week which is repeated for one month at different days and time and also unannounced to assess the economical constrains in a family.
- Microenterprise availability: On the basis of the assessment, the team identifies promising areas of microenterprise that has been developed by women or for women- either organizations or businesses that fill gaps in that community such as banks, internet centers, roads, electricity and any other activity that leverage competitive advantages of the community (e.g. Agricultural specialties)
Objective 2: Skills development and business trainings
Based on the economic outcomes, organization invites individuals and groups qualified to participate in skills and business training forums. The aim of this training is to build skills among rural Kenyan women to start and manage business for their own independency based on the feasibility of their business ideas and their capacity to implement them. In addition, participants will also be trained as mentors, so that they can provide support to newly members that will be trained in the future.
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- Training workshops: We work with and through the project women and partner’s association to organize quarterly training workshops for aspiring women empowerment in each of the four the clusters villages. During the training, participants learn about entrepreneurship, business finance, business management skills and microfinance.
- Develop business plan: The empowerment training is structured around the development of a business plan. In each module, participants develop sections of their own business plan. The business plan should include simplified and standardized arrangement as follows:
- Description of the business
- Description of the product or service
- A market study and feasibility analysis
- An implementation strategy
- A financial plan, including profit and loss, balance sheet, analysis of business ratios and cash flow.
- Support for business start-up: The primary vehicle for promoting business start-up will be within the available funds and through existing microcredit facilities as provided within project and its partners followed by initial training; project management will provide individualized continued business coaching to help put business plans into action. Through the project will develop specialists in mentoring, coaching and advising the women in the management of the business by providing financial, technical and business management support to them.
- Establish business support network: While we help trainees to grow their businesses by introducing sound business practices, we will also seek additional participants, engaging current partners and participants to guide new ones through peer training and mentoring.
Objective 3: Capacity building in Business Development
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- Based on the outcome of the assessment and trainings, the project will seek to develop individual within their capacity to effectively and efficiently manage their own businesses.
- Visitation follow ups: Business follows ups will be scheduled weekly through mentoring program to ensure that there are no difficulties in catching up and to avoid fall out.
- Continuous training workshops: While supporting businesses to grow, the project will continue conducting workshops on other areas as record and book keepings to help individuals with capacity building in business management.
Objective 4: Increase access to Microcredit for Business Start-up
The project will facilitate relationships between women entrepreneurs and existing micro-credit lenders and help individual aspiring to develop a bankable business to help them secure funding. There are many micro-loans programs in Kenya and some are started for women as Kenya Women Finance (KWF) and FAULU Country wide but, most women are unaware or luck business knowledge to obtain loans. Our aim is to facilitate relationship between those existing micro-lending organizations with and the women to enable them receive existing sources of loan capital for their businesses.
Mobilize review committee of civic and business leaders: We will mobilize a committee of local banking, business and civic leaders to review business plans and recommend them for funding, in coordination with all the stakeholders and beneficiaries.
Facilitate business start-up financing: Based on reviews from the committee, project will work with women to complete loan applications and where necessary, we will provide small loan guarantees to micro-finance institutions to enable them to invest specifically in women businesses.
Expected Outcomes
The project will built on its work with women’s associations in rural Kenya to expand and support development for 200 women in the rural, and then we will incorporate additional communities, provide business coaching and support new businesses through community-based projects and micro-credit. We will help women prepare business plans, get access to loans, and mentor them in establishing their businesses.
Both group and individual businesses will be help through this project as we continue working with already established businesses through expansion of our training in business management, skills development, marketing, and product diversification, we hope to establish at least 150 new, sustainable businesses and create 300 new jobs for rural women.
Sustainability
It is envisioned that, after 4 years, the activities launched through project will continue to operate and expand independently. There will be three aspects of sustainability:
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- The group and individual businesses established through the project will continue to function, to generate income and create jobs at the end.
- By working with and through community-based projects, project will strengthen their ability and capacity to provide ongoing support to their members who have started their own businesses.
- The women empowerment project committee is intended to provide a forum to women to continue to share from their past experience and to provide peer-to-peer business and skill development mentoring without the involvement of an outside organization because enable new members to seek guidance from more experienced members. The activities of the committee will be; workshops, peer training, and knowledge which will encourage the expansion and development of more businesses at the end of the project.
