Summary 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.