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.