【Economic Empowerment】Economic empowerment of girls, women and youth through microcredit driven entrepreneurship

 ～Economic empowerment of girls, women and youth through microcredit driven entrepreneurship –Mubende～

 

 -Background and Challenges to be addressed:

In rural Mubende, more than 80% of youth and women are self employed as farmers, petty jobs, and petty business. Majority of these have no access to credit that is badly needed to boast their income generating activities. This is due to lack of collateral security that is required in commercial banks and credit institutions for them to acquire loans. Youth and women in Mubende and beyond have ended up living a subsistence life. Girls and women are forced into either forced marriage or informal activities like commercial sex. They cannot afford basics of life namely food, medical care, clothing, scholastic materials among others.

In the targeted communities, 60% of the population leave below poverty line (earning 2$ per day) Their vulnerability is worsened by the fact that about 40% of households are women, widow, child or grandparent headed. Such households need support to improve their incomes.

Low cost credit provided by not for profit organizations like SORAK is less costly is the best choice for such populations. Microcredit given to women and youth has the ability of providing an opportunity to invest in profitable income generating activities. They will be advanced money ranging from 50,000 UGX to 200,000 in groups of 5 youth and or women and this money could be used to start and income generating activity like market vending, making of chapatis, buying and raising a piglet etc. SORAK will accompany this with entrepreneurship training to ensure that the money is put into proper use. Each of the group will be required to repay the money within 6 months.

On the other hand, SORAK as a means of sustaining the organization as well as economic empower girls, youth and women impact by COVID -19, has established a bakery and jelly production and training centre. This is at its final stages to start production but bad need extra funding for the needed startup raw materials and marketing. We passed the market research stage where SORAK made mosquito repellant jelly with lemon grass essential oil, supplied to the potential buyers whose feedback in so encouraging. SORAK is thus motivated to contribute some money and invest into this empowering as well as income generating activity. SORAK will also use part of the money to support the bakery and jelly making and training centre for girls and women. This will further enhance their skills better livelihoods.

 

SORAK's factory to start bakery and jelly production and training

The wheat mixer

Energy saving jelly boilers

 Preliminary training in entrepreneurship to receive and make use of SORAK Credit

 Participation of youth and women groups

-Project Goal:

To contribute to sustainable income generation for beneficiaries of SORAK’s interventions.

 

-Project Summary:

SORAK seeks to given microcredit to youths and women groups as well as utilizing strengthening the bakery and jelly making production and training for entrepreneur.

 

-Target place:

This project will be implemented targeting youth and women in the sub county of Kibalinga, Mubende district where SORAK offices and bakery and jelly production units are located. This however has opportunity to grow and expand with time as production and demand increases with time after the end of donor credit support.

 

-Target people:

A total of 150 youth (80 females and 70 males) and 100 women will be supported to both access credit and or participate in bakery and jelly training and production. These are individuals who will be engaged over a 1 year period. Some will be trained and employed in bakery and jelly making. They will later have those skills for the rest of their lives. This project targets active youth and women who are willing to; access the credit and makes use of it by way of investing it in productive and profitable enterprises in order to improve their wellbeing. It also targets those who have already shown interest to join SORAK bakery and jelly making and training.

 

 -Activities:

Activities proposed here are those that will be implemented at the start of bakery and jelly product production. These are proposed will understanding that SORAK has already done all the needed investment in terms of housing, machinery, water supply, mould and what is remaining are the, marketing, human resource and start up raw materials.

The activities of the project will include;

1-     Procure materials needed to start bakery and jelly production

2-     Mobilization and capacity building of youth and women groups and prepare them to receive and effectively utilize the credit

3-     Identify and select youth and women to participate and benefit in bakery and jelly making and training

4-     Make, blend, brand and pack and sale/market bakery and jelly products

 

-Methods of Microcredit Project and Fund:

Over all SORAK will be provided funding from Global Bridge Network(GBN) in form of a loan that is repayable at the end of 2 years. This money will be used by SORAK to both strengthen her bakery and jelly production and training unit. It will also be used to extend credit to carefully selected youth and women. These will also be provided with relevant training to ensure that they effectively and impactful utilize the provided credit.

There will be 2 methods of this credit management;

1-Beneficiaries will be organized into groups of 5 persons. They will be given credit to implement a jointly agreed up on enterprise whose startup 50$. Not all these people will receive credit at once. This is a targeted number to receive credit over 2 year’s time. The 1000$ is budget allocation to be given out in credit in small groups of 5 persons, for instance 1000$ can be given out to 20 groups at a go(50$x20=1000). This credit will be refundable on a monthly basis at a simple interest of 2-5% per month depending on the purpose of the loan and the risks involved in recovering it.  The interest generated will be used to meet administrative costs as well as reserving some for repayment back to GBN.

2- Some funds will be reserved in SORAK bakery and jelly production. It is anticipated that this will provide the badly and urgently needed startup capital more especially for inputs that will see the factory takeoff. This will supplement the already invest capital in tools, production equipment (mould) building modification, plumbing and sanitation.　

 Lastly, here SORAK anticipates making good use of the funds, generating revenue that will be used to run the production as well as having excess/profit that can be used to refund to GBN.

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*This project is supported by GBN's self-fund including personal donations!

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