Green Gold

Published in the January issue of Interdépendances, here is an article (in French) written by Raphaëlle Birot, agricultural engineer and member of the project team that initiated the project of rural sales of spirulina in Burkina Faso.

In 2009, 25 beneficiaries of the MFI AsIEnA distributed over 120kg of spirulina in the villages around Koudougou, we can be hopeful that in 2010, even more malnourished children and adults will be able to add this powerful nutrient to their daily meal...

TresorVert.pdf

Visit of the new FSD Coordinator

Today the Chorkor branch received the visit of the new FSD Coordinator, Miss Elise Ponson. As some of you may remember, the FSD (Fund for Social Development) is a fund managed by the French Embassy which aims at bringing a direct support to local NGOs.
In our case, we are receiving this support for the second time, for the development of our 0% interest loan aiming at the most deprived micro entrepreneurs that we call "Kick Start loans".
Elise came on field to discover our methodology and she met with the Mokosane group, made of 13 Kick Start loanees. 2 of them got their loan in June, the rest in July. The average amount they got is GH¢ 44, which they all used in their business, like Rosemary Mensah (see photos below) who purchased Nigerian soap with it, which she sells in her community. In addition, most of the group is now saving GH¢ 1 to GH¢ 2 per week, while before they joined ID-Ghana almost none of them was saving. This kind of behavioural change is made possible thanks to the training the Social Mission team (in this case the Kick Start loan project manager, Godknows Kporha). He gives such trainings on a weekly basis to our Kick Start partners. After all, one could say that the Kick Start loans project is more of a financial education programme than a financial scheme. For rather sooner than later, our ambition is to see these special product beneficiaries be empowered enough to be able to manage a loan on their own, and access greater capital through our "standard" products...

Proud to be a Nakolbzanga!

(Narrated by Adelaide Gros)

It’s nearly a year since the spirulina project in partnership with the MFI AsIEnA started in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. The time has therefore come for a first evaluation and it’s an opportunity to discuss with the Nakoglbzanga* and know their feelings and motivations about the project.

I wanted to share with you the conversation I had with Georgette Kansono, Nakoglbzanga from Goundi a nearby village. What struck me most when meeting her is Georgette’s pride. When we mention spirulina, she smiles and immediately launches in a detailed explanation about the benefits the green powder has on people’s health if consumed regularly. She is all the more convincing that she experienced it herself. Since taking 5 grams of spirulina with her daily bowl of rice or to, she sleeps better and feels stronger.
Everybody in the village knows she sells spirulina in the village. And she adds that the recognition she gets from being a Nakoglbzanga is very important. She displays her Nakoglbzanga badge proudly, and head high definitely looks like she is very aware of the responsibility that rests on her shoulders. She surveys the crowd the alleys of the market, shouts with great conviction "spirulina, spirulina" and walks around selling the green and yellow sachets of spirulina. She also explains that she combines the position of Nakoglbzanga, which is a new income-generating activity for her with that of Mama Health, a benevolent role in which she handles the sales that take place within her MUSO ** to the members of the group and their families.

It is now usual that some villagers might come knocking on her door asking for a word of advice, as they have some health issues. Georgette speaks of spirulina with passion and is undoubtedly a great ambassador of this food supplement. But she remains realistic: Yes, spirulina can brings health and is good for everyone, children, adults and elderly alike, but it’s not a drug, it can never replace a chemist or doctor’s prescription. And to enjoy the benefits of spirulina, it must be consumed regularly, not as a one-off like some tables but for at least two or three weeks per year. Sadly at the moment in Burkina Faso, during the lean period, when granaries are empty and fields not yet ready to be harvested, families who live in the countryside can no longer afford to pay for spirulina. At the price of 500 FCFA francs per sachet, even loyal clients can not find the cash and have to wait until next month to resume their treatment. Georgette laments about this situation not because her profits decline during the winter season, but because she really cares about the health of its neighbours and there does not seem to be an easy solution to this pricing problem, local spirulina farms are already selling under margins.
All 25 trained Nakoglbzanga in Koudougou currently face a real challenge to fulfil their task, because customers have less money, but the cost of spirulina remains the same. But the priority remains for Georgette and the other Nakoglbzanga of the project to inform people about the benefits of spirulina and to try by all means to make it accessible to people living in the bush. In the meantime, EdM and AsIEnA are also talking with the farms to see how to possibly reduce the costs and selling prices, while not impacting on the sustainability of the project or the viability of farms ... A fine balance to strike...

* Spirulina sellers and counsellors, they are all members of the MFI AsIEna and belong to different MUSO. The name means 'the one who looks after the well-being of all' in the local dialect Moré.
** MUSO, Mutuelle Solidarité, a solidarity group of men and women who belong to the MFI AsIEnA.

Malaria Prevention and Management campaign in Nima

We organised today jointly with our partner organisation Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation (IMPF) a malaria prevention and management event in our community of Nima.

IMPF already helped us design our malaria training curriculum last year and shared with us some of their training tools that we use in our health and hygiene trainings.


This event in Nima consisted in the screening of approximately 150 children through a simple blood test (called Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests) and a training on malaria.
The campaign is the result of a joint effort of both organisations to gather necessary materials to make the tests on one hand (IMPF) and to find a venue and gather the Nima community on that particular day on the other hand (ID-Ghana).

The Success Story of August in Ghana

Jessie is a 58 year old divorced woman with three children. The first two who are 38 years and 33 years are both married while the last who is 18 is in the Senior High School. She hails from Bukom in the Greater Accra Region. She was however born and bred in Kaneshie, Accra. Currently, she lives at Bubuashie but sells at the Kaneshie market where she has her shop.

Jessie used to sell cosmetics but later changed to the sale of cloth-ing since she felt she will make more profit. She usually opens her shop at 7:00 am and closes at 5:30 pm.
Her second child settled in the United States. He used to regularly send her money that she could invest in her business. But as he got married, remittance stopped immediately, which crushed her plan to expand her business. As she discussed about her situation with a friend of hers, she was introduced to ID-Ghana.
After making contacts and receiving our Credit Officers at her business place, she qualified for a first loan and received GH¢ 300 in October 2007. She again received GH¢ 500 and GH¢ 700 in April and November 2008 respectively. Currently, she is a Front Desk partner and her fourth loan of GH¢ 500 is being used to expand her business.
With the support from ID-Ghana she has been able to significantly diversify her business: with time, she included panties, braziers and scarves. Before taking the loan, her sales were ranging between GH¢ 10 and GH¢ 20 daily. Today, her sales range between GH¢ 30 and GH¢ 100 daily! Besides her savings of GH¢ 100 with ID-Ghana, she is also saving with UT Bank. Currently, she is able to meet her financial obligations without any headache. She is happy she is able to pay her last born’s fees without difficulties; she even withdrew some money from her savings for this purpose. Her greatest dream is to build a house for her children. She is confident she will be able to realise this dream since she is actively saving towards it!

Sodom and Gomorrah to be evacuated

Created in 1979 illegally, the slum of Sodom & Gomorrah as lived under the threat of being removed ever since. But this time, the newspaper relate the strong will of Accra Municipality to move the slum outside of the city in Adzen Kotoku.
If it looks advisable to prevent people from settling on the land occupied today, which is surrounded by the highly polluted Korle Lagoon, many problems are yet to arise. Sodom & Gomorrah is indeed populated by thousands of temporary residents who come down from their village to sell their stock of products at the nearby Makola & Agbogbloshie markets. The land was therefore providing a cheap and central place wherefrom to operate and alternate solution is not part of municipality plan.
As far as ID-Ghana is concerned, we need to anticipate on this move as many of our partners reside or operate a business based on the land that will be relocated...

The Success Story of June in Burkina Faso

Growing vegetables is increasingly popular for farmers in Burkina Faso after the rainy season. Jean-Baptiste Compaore, a farmer residing in Tansèga, a village situated some 35 km from Ouagadougou, the political capital of Burkina Faso, is one of those brave people who farm the land every day to make a living.

Originally from Tansèga, Jean-Baptiste grows cabbage, peppers and aubergines on his plot. He also grows tree saplings and tries himself at breeding.

Member of the Wend Waoga group, a group strong of eight men, he is also married and the father of seven children, amongst whom, four go to school. The family lives in a compound of five mud huts, three of which are for his family.

Jean-Baptiste learnt subsistence farming from a young age from his father. He proudly explains to us what tools are needed: watering cans, buckets, spades, shovels, rakes, small dabas* for digging holes and bars to dig water holes and wells, as there are no dam nearby. The major difficulty encountered is actually watering, as the wells dry up and it’s impossible to maintain a good level of water throughout the year. Farmers would therefore need cement and sand to improve the wells, but this represents a big investment and remains a limiting factor. Jean-Baptiste is in this situation because he can not yet fund such an expense, no matter how beneficial it would be for the crops.

During the rainy season, Jean-Baptiste wakes up at three a.m. to go to his garden, then goes to the field from eight to farm. At the end of the day around four, he returns to his plot and check his vegetables. He wants to water before nightfall and also check for parasites.

Although close to the capital city, the population of Tansèga conducts agro-pastoral activities similar to rural places, and despite their proximity to the big city, it is not easy for them to travel to Ouagadougou to go to a credit union or a bank.

A while back, the Wend Waoga group got counselling from the local radio "Vive le Paysan" which guided them to the Agricultural and Commercial Bank of Burkina (BACB). But most recently, Jean-Baptiste and his group heard of AsIEnA and the methods of this microfinance institution promoting self-sufficiency appealed to them a lot. They also liked the fact that AsIeNa is equipped with a mobile van, that doubles up as an office and so the loan officer comes and meets the group on site every month.

Jean-Baptiste has now been a partner of the MFI for three months and got a first loan amounting to 25000FCFA. This enabled him to purchase seeds and fertilizer.

Right now, Jean-Baptiste just started harvesting his vegetables and sells them on the local market, it has already yield a return of 17550FCFA, but the season is only starting and he hopes to at least double his income when the rest of his crop. He then intends to use his earnings to repay the credit of course, but also to buy more seeds and grow more species. Then he intends to take a second loan with AsIEnA, of a higher amount to restore and improve the two wells that are currently not in use.


(Story collected by Armel Guenguere)
* A daba is a little rake produced locally