*Note: When Joseph began working for FORGE last year, he could not speak any English and the Project Managers asked him to enroll in the FORGE English class at Meheba Creative Arts Center. His English has greatly improved (as you can see), and he is now writing blogs. See the following:
(Note - This blog was written by the refugee Project Coordinator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve his original tone.)
The agriculture FMI is a very important program which is promoting self-reliance in the refugee community. Last season, the harvest has occurred, I am happy to report that our farmers have been very successful and they are being able to send their children to school and being able to secure food in their homes.
This month (November 2008) was our second intake of clients for agro loan. I, Joseph, my key responsibilities will include the following:
Summary of project status and achievements:
FMI Agro-loans: This past month has been a busy one for FMI. In the beginning of November, the PM attended a cooperative meeting in which the cooperative board announced that each member would have to pay an additional 50,000 ZMK per share in order to receive seed and fertilizer. FMI thus had to pay 500,000 ZMK for its 10 shares in order to be eligible for the shipment of seed and fertilizer.
In mid-November, FMI jointly held a workshop with the Block H project on agricultural techniques and agro-business management. The workshop was taught by the Project Coordinators of FMI Agro and Block H over the course of three days.
The seed and fertilizer was finally delivered to Meheba last week. Unfortunately, the government only allocated half-portions of seed and fertilizer to every cooperative in Meheba, so FMI was only able to receive 5 packs instead of 10. The PM and the staff decided, in light of this, to only give half a pack to each of the farmers instead of cutting half of the farmers out of the program. The farmers have been understanding about this development, and are grateful to be receiving anything at all. The agro-loan officer traveled to each of the farmers’ fields to make sure that they had prepared for the seed and fertilizer. All the farmers were made to sign loan agreements when they picked up their seed and fertilizer, agreeing to repay the loan in the appropriate amount of maize come harvest in June.
FMI Small Business Loans: As for FMI business loans, collection has been slow because this is difficult month for many in Meheba. Money and food are sparse, so though the loan officers have been trying, they have been unable to collect a substantial amount of money. The Project Coordinator has noted that this is an annual trend, seen in previous years. On the upside, one of the FORGE Women’s Centre employees, Jacqui, has completed her loan repayment this month.
Future activities and projections:
As Cleophas, the FEF Officer, has been resettled, Bartho, FMI Loan Officer, will be leaving FMI to take his place beginning December 1st. This just leaves Boniface as FMI Project Coordinator and Joseph Kaje as Agro-loan Coordinator. At the end of December, Joseph Kaje will continue the FMI Agro Project on his own and FMI Small Business Loans will end. The PM will continue to encourage Bartho and PM Assistant, Roy, to see clients during any free time they may have between their other duties.
Indicators and statistics:
Substantial problems or issues:
None.
Wishes or requests:
None.
By Sherie Gertler(Note - This blog was written by the refugee Project Facilitator Boniface for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve his original tone.)
FMI is a very good program which is promoting self-reliance. We see a lot of our clients being able to send their children to school and being able to secure food in their homes.
This [November 2008] will be our second intake of clients for Agro-loan. A loan of 8 bags of fertilizer and 20 kg of maize seed will be given to each farmer to cultivate one hector of land. This year we have a total of 10 farmers who will receive the loan.
We are also working with another program that will start in Block H. Fourteen farmers were chosen and each farmer will receive 4 bags of fertilizer and 10 kg of maize seeds to cultivate half a hectare of land. This is to help the Block H community to start their own agriculture cooperative later on, so that the people in Block H will be able to buy fertilizer at a good price in the years to come.
By Boniface KabuyaSummary of project status and achievements:
FMI (small business loans) has continued to collect throughout the month of October. Due to the budget cuts, the project had to cut one full-time employee (Jacob) and cut another employee down to half-time (Bartho). Boniface will stay on as the office manager until January, and Joseph Kaje will continue on indefinitely as the Agro-loan Officer. These changes were in effect as of November 1st.
The PMs sent a letter to all FORGE employees still owing an outstanding balance to FMI. The letter indicated that the employees must make appointments with their loan officers or an amount of 50,000 kwacha would be automatically deducted from their salaries. However, these letters were sent just before the budget cuts were made, and some of the employees in question were fired or demoted. Thus, the PMs are looking for another alternative and have decided to let this month pass.
As for agro-loans, all of the maize received as loan repayment was sold. The PM decided that early sale was best because rats were eating the maize in the storage unit and it was also shrinking in its sacks thus decreasing in quantity. Because food prices are so high, the maize sold for almost as much as it was anticipated to sell in December: 5,100,000 kwacha instead of 5,400,000 kwacha.
We are also still waiting for the shipment of seed and fertilizer. The workshops will happen in the next couple of weeks, and then the farmers will be ready to begin. I have spoken with Mr. Maseka, the agricultural government representative for Meheba, and he has sent a worker to Lusaka to get an estimated arrival date. Until then, we just have to wait.
Future activities and projections:
In the month of November, Joseph Kaje and Bonafice will lead the workshops for the agro-loan farmers. Hopefully, the farmers will also receive the seed and fertilizer they need to begin planting. The PM will continue closely communicating with Mr. Maseka to distribute the seed and fertilizer as quickly as possible after it is delivered.
Indicators and statistics:
Substantial problems or issues:
In a very recent meeting with Mangana cooperative, an issue arose concerning the balance of the cooperative. Through a translator, I gathered that the money reserved for “shares” in the cooperative is not enough, for some reason, to purchase “shares” through the government for all of the members. Currently, it is only enough to entitle 10 people to seed and fertilizer. There was a discussion on how to raise the extra funds needed, but I am going to have to get more details on the final arrangements. The meeting was just held yesterday.
Summary of project status and achievements:
FMI Small Business Loans: FMI Loan Officers continued to collect outstanding debts this month. Several of the FMI weekly meetings revolved around discussing loan repayment schedules and certain stubborn clients. The loan officers even traveled to Solwezi and Manaima in order to find clients that have left the settlement, and these trips did result in partial repayments. Roy Kazanda, one of the FMI loan officers, has been selected to fill the now-vacant position of Project Manager Assistant, so he will officially transition to that position on October 15th. The PM and the FMI Project Coordinator have been assigning Roy’s clients to other loan officers; the PM believes that the transition will not be a problem, as all loan officers are fairly familiar with the remaining clientele. Additionally, Carine Ngoyi abruptly left for South Africa in the beginning of September without discussing her departure with any of the staff or the Project Manager. The PM has chosen not to fill either Roy or Carine’s positions, as the remaining clients are few enough for three loan officers and one coordinator to cover. This will also decrease the monthly cost of maintaining the project, which already exceeds the money collected each month.
FMI Agro-loans: The PM and the agro-loan officer have been busy preparing the office for the next round of agro-loans. The list of farmers has been compiled and handed over to the Mangana Cooperative through which FMI receives its seed and fertilizer. So far, one meeting has been held in which all of the newly-selected farmers came together to discuss with the staff how the next season of agro-loans will progress. The farmers also had some suggestions on how to improve upon last season’s loans. Now we are just waiting for the government delivery of the seed and fertilizer. We have also been spraying the maize so as to preserve it until sale in December.
The problem from last month concerning complaints to the government has been resolved. A delegation of FMI staff, FORGE Project Managers and former loan recipients traveled to the office in Block A of Mr. Maseka, agricultural government representative in Meheba. After explaining the program and showing Mr. Maseka the paperwork for the loans, Mr. Maseka proved to be very supportive of FORGE and the agro-loan program, and sincerely appreciated our visit and our efforts. He has even offered to help with the development of the cooperative in Block H, and the PM believes he will be a valuable friend to these programs.
Future activities and projections:
At the October staff meeting, the PM plans to speak to the FORGE employees with outstanding loans. Each employee will be required to sit down with his or her loan officer and the FMI Project Coordinator to discuss a loan repayment plan. This plan was put off in September when there was some wavering amongst the Project Managers, but now a consensus has been reached and all believe it to be a good idea. Next week, the PM is also scheduled to travel to the field with the loan officers to meet several of the stubborn clients and sit down with them.
As for FMI agro-loans, the PM plans on holding more meetings with the new farmers to discuss the way forward. The agro-loan workshops will also begin towards the end of October, as the shipment of seed and fertilizer approaches. Additionally, the PM has plans to visit Mr. Maseka in mid-October with the head of the biggest Meheba cooperative, Agro-deal, to keep Mr. Maseka updated as he requested.
Indicators and statistics:
• Amount Collected in September:
• Number of appointments held by loan officers with clients: 56
• Number of agro-loan holders: 21 (18 males, 3 females)
• Number of completed agro-loans: 11
• Number of outstanding small business loans remaining: 42 (16 males, 26 females)
• Business loans completed in September: 0
Substantial problems or issues:
There is some concern that the delivery of seed and fertilizer will be late again this year. However, there is not much action we can take to prevent this. All we can do is prepare the farmers and prepare ourselves to transport the seed and fertilizer as soon as it is delivered. The rest is left in the hands of the government.
Summary of project status and achievements:
The FMI loan officers have spent the entire month of August trying to collect outstanding loans from clients who still owe a balance. The FMI staff has begun to get frustrated about this duty, so the PM tried to come up with some solutions in weekly meetings. In one meeting, the loan officers and the PM did a role play (loan officer and client) to practice the loan officers’ strategies of approaching stubborn clients. We have also initiated a monthly incentives contest, in which the loan officer that collects the most receives a small prize at the end of the month. This month, the loan officers collected a total of 615,000 kwacha. From my conversations with the FMI staff, they seem to agree with the inherent problems of FMI in Meheba and are on board with the decision to close down.
As for agro-loans, no collections were made this month. The agro-loan officer and the PM attended several co-operative meetings of the Mangana co-operative to discuss the new income of seed and fertilizer into Meheba. The seed and fertilizer arrived in the last week of August and will have to be purchased by FORGE soon for the next round of agro-loans to be made. As of the end of August, out of 21 farmers given loans in 2007, 10 farmers have paid back their loans in full, 8 farmers have paid back half, and 3 farmers have paid nothing.
Future activities and projections:In the next couple of weeks, FORGE will have to decide how many agro-loan recipients it wants to take on for the 2008-2009 season. The PM has worked closely with the current FMI staff to determine who and how many loan recipients we should take on in order to remain sustainable. This document, complete with monetary projections and current balances, will be forwarded to FORGE management at the same time as this report. I have recommended that $2000 be loaned to FMI, with the expectation that it will be paid back by December 2009.
The FMI loan officers will continue to collect loan repayments through December 2008. We have also learned that a number of FORGE employees have outstanding loans, so the PMs are announcing at the next staff meeting that each of these employees is required to attend a one-on-one loan counseling session with an FMI loan officer. These sessions are expected to take place in mid-September.
By Sabah Khan
Comments on this project
show allQuestions on this project
show all