OCTOBER 2003

Update on the African Woman Food Farmer Initiative (AWFFI)

Jennifer Thomson, Senior Program Officer, Africa Region

As of the end of September 2003, AWFFI has cumulatively lent almost 39,000 loans for over $1.7 million to groups of women farmers in the seven countries of Africa since the inception of the program in 2000. The seven countries are Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana in West Africa, and in Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique in East and Southern Africa. The average loan is about $40 for each woman in the AWFFI program. In 2003 alone (as of the end of September), about 3,400 women received credit for over $325,000.

The long-term goal of AWFFI is to ensure that rural farmer women in Africa have access to affordable credit on a sustainable basis. In order to accomplish this goal, AWFFI plans to create farmer women-owned and managed “rural banks” in each Epicenter that will be formally recognized by the government. Currently, three countries are poised to receive official government recognition of 7 AWFFI rural banks before the end of the year - namely Burkina Faso, Ghana and Senegal. In addition, in June 2003, the Rabobank Foundation of the Netherlands approved a 50,000 Euro grant to support the creation of two of the above-mentioned AWFFI rural banks. Therefore, one bank in Senegal and one bank in Burkina Faso - the two countries that have already created government-recognized THP rural banks - have been selected to benefit from 25,000 Euros each.

AWFFI women's group meeting at the Yadin-Zakpota sub-Epicenter in Benin.

AWFFI-Benin

In Benin, AWFFI has focused on consolidating the program which expanded very rapidly from inception in 2000 up to the end of 2002. Therefore, no AWFFI loans have been disbursed in 2003 in Benin; and instead, the staff has focused on increasing the capacity of the groups, their leaders and AWFFI’s own internal monitoring systems as well as AWFFI loan repayments. As a result, AWFFI-Benin’s overall loan disbursement remains the same as it was in December 2002, at almost 7,400 loans for over $380,000 to women farmers in the rural areas of Benin.

At the same time, THP-Benin has focused on incorporating AWFFI areas where AWFFI was formerly operating autonomously from THP-Benin’s Epicenters into new and existing Epicenters. As a result, two new Epicenters, namely Adja Ouère-Bonou and Dassa-Paouignan, and two new Sub-Epicenters were created in 2003.

In June 2003, during a Global Office visit, a new AWFFI Program Coordinator was recruited in Benin after the former Coordinator, Mrs. Rafiatou Karim, was selected by the government of Benin to serve as the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. The new AWFFI Program Coordinator, Mrs. Irène Mensah, took her post in August 2003.

AWFFI-Burkina Faso

As of the end of September 2003, AWFFI-Burkina had disbursed over 5,000 loans for over $312,000 to Burkinabe AWFFI women farmers in the Epicenters. In 2003 alone, over $92,500 was disbursed to about 340 women. With the formal integration of AWFFI into THP in 2003, one formerly AWFFI-only area became a full-fledged Epicenter at Bissiga, and five other areas became sub-Epicenters.

This year, AWFFI-Burkina has concentrated their efforts on training the women’s groups to operate their own rural banks in four Epicenters, namely in the Fétombaga, Loaga, Nongfaïré and Toulfé Epicenters. THP-Burkina expects to receive official government recognition of these four rural banks before the end of the year. In addition, one of these banks will receive 25,000 Euros of the Rabobank Foundation grant mentioned above. In fact, 12,500 Euros will be transferred to the rural bank when they receive official recognition during the Fourth Quarter.

THP-Burkina had experience in creating rural banks even before the AWFFI program was created. In May 2002, the Nagréongo and Zincko Epicenter rural banks received their formal government recognition. This means that when the AWFFI banks are recognized, there will be a total of six government-recognized, autonomous Hunger Project rural banks in Burkina Faso.

In addition, a new AWFFI Program Coordinator was recruited in May 2003 during a Global Office visit, when the position became full-time in each country and the former Coordinator, Mrs. Voukouma, was unable to commit her services full time to AWFFI. Therefore, the new AWFFI Program Coordinator, Mrs. Alimata Onadja, started her duties in June 2003.

Tomato farmer in Ghana harvests for a profit.

AWFFI-Ghana

Like in Burkina Faso, AWFFI-Ghana has also focused its activities this year on preparing the AWFFI women’s groups in two Epicenters - namely the Atuobikrom and Nsuta-Aweregya Epicenters - to start their own rural banks and achieve formal recognition before the end of the year. In Ghana, however, these will be the first rural banks at Hunger Project Epicenters, and therefore a very important new achievement for THP-Ghana.

After a year of greatly successful consolidation of AWFFI activities in 2002, AWFFI-Ghana has recommenced a higher level loan disbursement this year. In 2003, AWFFI-Ghana has already disbursed almost $29,000 to almost 480 women in the Epicenters, compared to last year’s conservative $12,600 to 200 women. The reason for last year’s caution was to ensure that all of the women’s groups members had repaid their loans before the groups received new loans. This was a necessary precaution to ensure that loan repayments remains high so that the culture of loan repayment and savings is strongly instilled.

In Ghana, previously AWFFI-only areas were mobilized and formalized into three new Epicenters, namely in Matsekope, Amoyaokope and Awutu-Kwamang.

In addition, during the last quarter, AWFFI-Ghana conducted several book-keeping and business management workshops to improve the women’s groups’ skills. These trainings serve to disseminate information and to facilitate group problem-solving. For example, in one area the AWFFI groups formulated a plan to finally market and transport their produce jointly, instead of waiting for the market women to come to buy their produce on their individual farms.

Malawi AWFFI partner at her bakery, selling her baked goods

AWFFI-Malawi

In Malawi, the three major areas of AWFFI activities have been formalized this year into sub-Epicenters, namely in Mpingo, Nsondole and Khola. The Mpingo and Nsondole Sub-Epicenters have mobilized with particular enthusiasm in anticipation of integrating AWFFI credit and training activities into the Epicenter methodology, while the Khola Sub-Epicenter may take longer to mobilize due to internal issues.

Meanwhile, AWFFI-Malawi continues to train groups and disburse credit in these sub-Epicenters as well as in the Epicenters, for a total of over 1,700 loans for almost $124,000 since program inception. In 2003 alone, over 620 women have received more than $32,000 in credit.

The Vision, Commitment and Action Workshops (VCAW) continue to be a critical empowerment tool for the AWFFI women. For example, AWFFI-Malawi recently reported that:

“The partners were very happy because some of the issues that were discussed at the VCAW were obstacles women face in the village and through their daily life. For example, the socioeconomic status of the women is very low and therefore they are not able to feed or look after their family properly, or land distribution is very unfair. If the family is headed by a female, she has no say on the way land has been distributed to her family. There are times when money is earned by the woman but it is still controlled by the husband making it impossible for the woman to buy what she wants for her children. These were some of the topics that brought a hot discussion at the workshop. The partners were empowered to have good negotiating skills and not to have the fear of the unknown.”

Lastly, a new AWFFI Program Coordinator, Mrs. Gertrude Kamvulumvulu, was recruited during the March 2003 Global Office visit and took her post in April.

AWFFI-Mozambique

Mozambique is the one country in Africa in which only the AWFFI program has been launched. Therefore, the focus is solely on the provision of credit to the AWFFI women, as well as training in literacy, health, business management and VCAs. Year 2003 has been a year of consolidation in Mozambique as the women’s groups have focused on repaying their original AWFFI loans. In some areas, weather conditions have hurt the women’s crops but they are repaying small quantities until they can pay off their loans and be in a position to access credit again in the near future. At the same time, there are several women’s groups that have experienced great success and have been able to rapidly repay their loans and even get second loans with AWFFI.

To date, AWFFI-Mozambique has disbursed a cumulative total of almost 500 loans for almost $102,600. In 2003, 120 women received almost $19,000. The rest of the year will focus on program consolidation so that credit disbursement may be pursued in earnest next year.

 
AWFFI milk processing center in Dahra, Sengal.

AWFFI-Senegal

With the formal integration of AWFFI into THP Epicenter strategy completed by the end of the Second Quarter 2003, AWFFI-Senegal surged ahead during the Third Quarter when thirteen Epicenter AWFFI rural banks - out of the total of seventeen Epicenters in Senegal - received credit for a total of $65,000. The rural banks at three of these Epicenters act as the “mother” banks for seven additional sub-Epicenter AWFFI rural banks. The membership of all of these rural banks together is over 24,500 women.

The innovation of “mother” AWFFI rural banks is a new innovation of THP-Senegal that has not yet been replicated in the other THP countries. This is because THP has been working in Senegal for much longer than in the other countries and therefore frequently acts as the center of rural banking innovation for the other countries. THP-Senegal has accumulated a significant amount of experience and expertise in women’s rural banking since THP started work there in 1991. As a result, THP-Senegal has already established two government-recognized rural banks. The first Hunger Project rural bank in Senegal was at the Mpal Epicenter where the rural bank was formed in 1995 and achieved government recognition in 1997 after the special rural bank legislation was created. The second was at the Dahra Epicenter where the bank was formed by the women’s groups in 2001 and received official government recognition that same year.

THP-Senegal plans to achieve official government recognition of at least one AWFFI rural bank, namely at the Coki Epicenter, before the end of 2003. The others will most likely receive their official recognition in 2004. In fact, it is the Coki Epicenter AWFFI rural bank to which the above-mentioned Dutch Rabobank Foundation funds will be applied. This year the rural bank will receive 12,500 Euros of the Rabobank funds to celebrate its anticipated formal recognition during the Fourth Quarter 2003; and another 12,500 Euros will be sent in 2004.

Lastly, a new AWFFI Coordinator, Mrs. Fatou Fall, was recruited during the May 2003 Global Office visit. She started her post in July.

AWFFI-Uganda

In Uganda, AWFFI has disbursed a total of over 3,100 loans for over $250,000. In 2003 alone, almost 1,050 AWFFI women took out almost $89,000 in credit to invest in their activities. AWFFI women’s ventures have had positive effects on their whole communities. For example, in a recent report from Uganda, AWFFI dairy farming has had the following effects:

“During the second loan disbursement ceremony, one of the local council leaders confessed that on the occasion of vaccinating cows in the whole parish that happens once every year, they discovered that the number of cows in the area had increased from about 50 to over 150. The exercise that normally takes one day, this time round lasted for 2 days and the local leadership in the area related this to the AWFFI program that had enabled women to purchase the cows. Cows in this area are regarded as a great asset, which has been boosted by the presence of a milk collecting plant that supplies to diary-processing plants in Kampala. This does not only boost the nutrition of both the children and the adults in a given household but also provides them with an income in terms of cash from the sale of the surplus milk.”

AWFFI also continues to receive a high level of attention on the national level. For example, in Uganda, a recent AWFFI loan disbursement was aired on national TV and was attended by local officials.

Some groups in Uganda have initiated their own mutual assistance initiatives. The following excerpt from a recent report describes a women’s initiative at the new Kiboga Epicenter:

“Some groups have on their own initiative developed a system known as “merry go round”, that enables the women to buy each other assets in turns. They are currently buying for each group member a pig in rounds to ensure that each one of them benefits. This kind of spirit is enabling the women to be innovative in their own communities, thereby contributing to the end of marginalization.”

Interestingly, the increased income of women in particular in Uganda has had a particularly positive impact on girls’ education, as reported recently:

“Given the situation in Uganda, where many men still hold an attitude that ‘they would rather support their sons in school than their daughters because in most cases, a girl will after all be married off and her education will benefit a different family’, the option for girls’ education is mainly the concern of the mothers. Therefore, as AWFFI enables mothers to have access and control to some family income, they are able to provide scholastic materials to their daughters in addition to decisions, which are positive towards a girl child. In the final analysis, this is greatly contributing to an increased enrollment and retention of girl children in primary schools.”

Lastly, the former AWFFI Program Officer, Mrs. Irene Wasike, was promoted to the position of AWFFI Program Coordinator in April 2003. Because Mrs. Wasike was already familiar with the AWFFI program and all of the AWFFI partners, AWFFI-Uganda’s activities have continued to expand at a very rapid rate.