Interim Report Greengrocers & Bakers
10 women have acquired entrepreneurial skills and ventured into small businesses. OLCAP has supported 10 women to start small greengrocery and bakery businesses. For three months, the women had weekly sessions where they were trained on the best practices in running a small business. This included; budgeting, pricing, bookkeeping, and marketing. Further, the women were trained how to create a business plan and they were assisted in developing one for their business.
To start their small ventures, each woman was given ksh 30,000 (€254) as seed capital. This helped then start a greengrocery or a bakery based on their passion. Since the women started running the businesses, they have received regular coaching and mentorship from OLCAP project staff. The staff visit the women weekly to offer advice and help them resolve any arising challenges. To instil business acumen and master the sales art, a business development officer visits the women at least monthly.
Impact: Lives Improved
The women who once dropped out of school and were without training to get into professional employment, are now running successful businesses. And they are earning an income from their businesses on a daily basis. From their profits, they can now afford nutritious food, pay for healthcare, and buy adequate clothing for themselves and their family members.
Empowering a woman empowers the community. Sixty family members are benefiting from the increased income.
Success Stories from the women
Reward no longer sleeps hungry
Reward, a single mother, stated that she struggled to buy food for herself and her two-year-old daughter, and they often went to sleep on a hungry stomach. As a school drop-out, it was difficult to find a job in the village where job opportunities are limited, and she had no way to earn income. After opening a greengrocery business, Reward reports that she now earns income daily and uses some of the profits to buy balanced and nutritious food for herself and her daughter.
Norah Can Afford Clean Energy
In the village, most households use kerosene lamps (koroboi) to provide lighting at night. The project has helped Norah afford to use clean energy. Initially, she used a kerosene lamp to provide lighting in her house at night. She reported how her children could not do their homework as she sometimes lacked money to buy kerosene. The children were also affected by the smoke from the kerosene lamp and often used to develop coughs. After receiving support to start a small greengrocery business, Norah reported that she earns income daily and has used some of the profit to buy a solar lamp. Her family now has ample lighting as she charges the lamp using the sun and her children can now do their homework every night. In addition, she reports that her children are healthier, and the coughs have disappeared.
Rose can pay rent
Rose also told us that before she joined the project, she used to be homeless. However, after she opened a greengrocery business, it has helped her earn income that she uses some of the profit to pay rent.
Bracedes pays for healthcare
Bracedes told us that her mother fell ill recently, and she was able to use profits from her business to pay for her medical bills. She reported that this would have been impossible if she hadn’t started operating a greengrocery and bakery business.
The Project Has Empowered the Beneficiaries to Acquire Assets
The training the women received on investment has empowered them to acquire assets to escape extreme poverty. For example, Peninnah and Marble used some of the profits to acquire two and one piglet respectively. They stated that they plan to rear the piglets to maturity and sell them at a profit. Marble also used some of her profits to invest in a firewood business as she reports that most people in the village use it to cook.
Budget
€ 5,768, facilitated training, coaching and mentorship and associated costs for the women, seed capital and development of education manuals. OLCAP partnered with Co-operative University and Clastars College to offer the training and certification to the women. Different from the budget, the seed capital increased by € 25 due to transaction charges incurred when buying some of the stock.