Climate Smart Economic Empowerment

What if smallholders, representing 7 out 10 of the world’s poor, could permanently escape poverty in less than a year, at a declining unit cost, starting around USD 100?

Smallholders supply 70% of overall food production, and yet many smallholders still suffer from food insecurity and malnutrition. The demand for food in Sub Sahara Africa is expected to triple before 2050. An overarching question of NCA is How can smallholders earn more money and get out of poverty? Micro Investing is emerging as one of the most attractive approaches NCA has tested in the programme period, as it 

• is relevant to a large portion of the population in the poorest countries
• is market-based and allows NCA to take a limited and catalytic role 
• leads to rural economic development and new opportunities for women and youth
• incorporates climate smart agriculture 

So, what is Micro Investing? Through the introduction of micro sized and affordable drip irrigation, good seeds and industrial plant nutri­tion, and by switching to crops that give continuous supply with limited processing and logistics, smallholders increase their income while using less land and water. The practice is environmentally sustainable and climate smart. The approach is called "Micro Investing", as it is based on savings to support self-sustainable growth from the start. No hand-outs or soft credit is offered. Smallholder farmers are approached as customers and self-select into the program. 

Micro Investing has created avenues for self-employment and contributed to equitable distribution of incomes and reduction of poverty in line with national poverty indicators in countries like Tanzania and Malawi. Micro Investing has proven to help poor smallholders lift themselves out of poverty more effectively than for example through microfinance. The affordable investment of around USD 10 has enabled most vulnerable households to increase their incomes beyond the international poverty threshold of USD 1.90 per day. The Micro Investing methodology has also been tested at a small scale in Burundi, Somalia, Sudan and Zambia, and is planned to be rolled out and scaled up in several NCA’s programme countries in the coming years.

Some stories about micro investors in Tanzania:

Lightness Mushi from Kilimanjaro was left with three children when her husband abandoned the family. In April 2018, she borrowed some money in her loan and savings group to invest in micro investing kits consisting of simple drip irrigation, seeds and some fertilizer for two vegetable beds. From the income from the vegetables she produced, she reinvested some of the profits and doubled her capacity three times. Less than a year later, she had 18 vegetable beds that generated enough income to send her children to boarding school, install electricity and build a cow shed. Her weekly profit from the vegetable garden after having paid seeds, fertilizer, pesticide and water bills is USD 105, which is USD 15 a day.

Dodo Matambo is married and a father of six children. Dodo lives in the small village of Gedamari, Galapo Ward in Babati District, Northern Tanzania. Dodo invested USD 12 in micro investing kits for two vegetable beds. Harvest by harvest, Dodo has reinvested parts of the profit from the beds in new beds, increasing his capital throughout and has now expanded to sixty beds. He is now growing various types of vegetables and fruits. After one year of practice, Dodo Matambo scaled up his existing enterprise in horticulture by investing an additional USD 430 obtained from both the sales of vegetables and savings from saving and loan groups (VICOBA). With his new investment, Dodo generates USD 275 monthly. He has been able to pay his children’s school fees, buy agricultural inputs and shares in VICOBA, and build a 4-bedroom house instead of the 2-bedroom house he lived in earlier.

Imagine life without electricity. It is quite hard, as most of us are used to unlimited, stable access to energy and only need to flip a switch to get power. More than 1 billion people around the world do not have access to electricity, resulting in limited opportunities to develop their lives and create income and economic activities.

NCA and BRIGHT Products AS have carried out the project “Education 4 Sustainability” in Somalia and Burundi with support from Innovation Norway’s Vision 2030 grant. The project had a unique approach of combining solar energy with education and income generating activities. The project was one of the finalists for the sustainability award “Årets Håndtrykk 2018” by Storebrand in Norway.

Energy Access for Marginalised Populations

The two East African countries, Somalia and Burundi, both suffer from limited access to energy, especially in rural areas. Multiple natural disasters, armed conflicts combined with long-term political and economic instability has affected the countries for years, making it difficult for the population to prosper. Access to affordable and renewable energy is a catalyst for development. Being self-sufficient with energy in each household is often the most reliable solution in countries like Somalia and Burundi.

Electricity grid connection is often expensive and unstable, and most often it is not available in rural areas at all. Alternative, unclean energy sources such as coal, kerosene and one-time use batteries are both costly and unsafe. Deforestation and land degradation are huge problems in many African countries, resulting in loss of biodiversity, land productivity, supply of water, increasing the risk of negative climate change. One family can save an average of more than USD 200 annually by replacing such unclean energy with an independent and sustainable solar energy product. With the more that 300 sunny days annually in Somalia and Burundi, there is a great potential for solar energy.

Education for Self-Reliance

BRIGHT developed a new digital e-learning tool, in collaboration with Leap Learning and NCA, especially for people wanting to become independent entrepreneurs. The education tool provides entrepreneurial skills and knowledge about solar energy through an interactive approach using apps, videos and multiple-choice games to engage the learner. NCA used this tool to train a total of 400 participants, mostly unemployed women and youth in Somalia and Burundi, and provided them with the needed skills to improve their livelihoods.

Over 500 quality solar products were sold in the project period, giving the participants the self-reliant opportunity to buy or resell solar energy products. With the mobile payment technology, pay-as-you-go, the solar products can be paid off in small instalments, making it possible and affordable for anyone to start using solar energy.

Independent Solar Entrepreneurs

Despite the complex settings of Somalia and Burundi, “Education 4 Sustainability” has achieved great results:

• 389 participants have been educated in entrepreneurship and solar energy using e-learning tools
• 75% of them have actively used the education to engage in entrepreneurial activities or run their own business
• 50% of them have purchased a solar product to be used in their home, shop or business
• 25 entrepreneurs have started their own business by becoming local resellers of BRIGHT´s solar products, offered with pay-as-you-go mobile down-payment
• 95% of BRIGHT’s Solar Home Systems were sold within the first two months to families or business owners in the local community
• The educated solar entrepreneurs earn commission on each sold product. All the solar products have been sold in their surrounding areas.