Situational Analysis
BUACOFE Economic strengthening programs aims at improving economic capacity of the very poor households to become economically self-reliant using households and individuals through family group approach. This strategy aims at getting households to form groups for ease mobilization, outreach, enhance fast adoption and explore synergy among group members with trickle-down effect to indirect beneficiaries.
Notola Syoluya Family group is among the many family groups BUACOFE formed and supported with IGAs in 2009. Previously, households were living in misery and abject poverty. With most of them surviving by offering casual labour services in their neighbour’s gardens so as to get some little money for survival.
Strategies and Processes
In May 2009 BUACOFE clustered and trained parents of enrolled children in groups in modern farming techniques and supported them with heifers as an income generating activity of their choice. Members were also trained in VSLA Modules which equipped them with saving and financial management skills.
Results / Progress to-date
Since September 2009, life has changed for the 30 members of Notola Syoluya Family groups. Their success has increasingly bonded them together till today with no one thinking of living the group. Upon receiving the five heifers from BUACOFE, the group started a group garden. They requested one community member who had an idle land to support them such that they can grow some crops. In 2010 BUACOFE again supported them with improved seeds varieties of; - maize and beans which they planted in their group garden. The harvest was very good and this boosted their food security and income from sale of the excess. The group members now proudly have 28 cattle (6 bulls and 22 cows) and receive about 20 litters of milk every day which to them they sale and plough into their saving scheme. They also proudly say their annual collection of the VSLA money is about 12 million shillings annually which is shared amongst the group members.
“We can now afford to meet the house basic needs and school requirements of our children” says the group members.
Lessons learnt for Replication
- Comprehensive support to identified groups results into adverse positive outcomes which lay a firm foundation for household economic empowerment.
- Family group approach enables members to collectively address their household economic need as they have access to soft loan services in group revolving fund as well as obtaining training opportunities for skills building and self-reliance. And the VSLA methodology is a perfect tool to achieve household income stability and community mobilisation.
- There is need adopt a rigorous multi staged monitoring framework that tracks both the processes, inputs, outputs and outcomes for supported groups.
- There is need to have succession plans for groups after the IGAs have accumulated and reached level of changing from one IGA to another.
- There is need to have good plans put in place to for mentorship and trainings on IGA management
- Guidance on distribution of IGA proceedings is very essential because failure to manage the groups can easily separate and collapse.
