CHRAPA did establish quick impact projects for various beneficiaries.
The livelihoods aspect of the project that is principally focused the following areas as per the project expectations:
- Identify 5 super-fast income generating activities
- Quick impact projects are setup to economically support GBV survivors and women groups
- Organize multiple hands on trainings with beneficiaries till they acquire the required skills.
- Identify and select cooperatives through a precise selection criteria.
In relation to the above mentioned project expectations, the following activities were carried out. IDENTIFIED 5 SUPER-FAST INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES.
CHRAPA within this context carried out working sessions in order to identify the specific business needs of its beneficiaries:
We did have 03 working sessions with a team from the Women Empowerment Centre, under the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family, Cameroon to conduct an assessment/costing of the various types of very profitable businesses/income generating activities that can be proposed to beneficiaries for quick trainings and quick set-up/establishment to economically support selected GBV survivors, IDPs and IDP host communities. on Quick Impact Project Activities that is on Thursday 15th ,18th and 22nd October 2019.
The following businesses were prioritized subject to changes as beneficiaries are proposed new forms of businesses they felt it was profitable and they were capable managing them.
Types of businesses we proposed were:
- Selling of fried potatoes and eggs
- Puff puff and beans frying
- Selling of Fruits
- Frying of chewables like chin chin, doughnut, and groundnut, scorch egg, peanuts,
- Selling of local omo and liquid soup/other detergents
- Selling petrol/Kerosene
- Barbing /Plaiting
- Mobile restaurant; Jellof Rice, Water Fufu and Eru, Pepper Soup, Ekwang
- Roasting of fish, tilapia and
- Selling of dried fish “mbonga”
- Petty Provisions stores
- Hair dressing, selling of beauty products and merche
- Selling of fried plantains and pepper
- Transformation of groundnuts into Abakuru / Kurukuru and Mboh and production of groundnut oil in the process.
- Production and selling of broom
- Production and selling of red oil.
- Poultry
- Selling of raw groundnuts
- Koki beans
- Selling of onions
- Fish smoking/ training on this can be done in one day.
- Roasting and selling of meat.
- Cafeteria
- Cakes and icing
- Training on technology of producing rubbing oil, detergents etc.
- Production and selling of snails
- Mushroom production and selling
- Urban Agriculture
After working with beneficiaries, on the trainings organized on Thursday 31/10/2019 and Friday 01/11/2019 at the Mondial Hotel Complex in Bamenda elaborated below, they selected the following areas for their support:
o Flour products,
o petty provision stores(Mobile and Static),
o Selling of Palm Oil and Groundnuts Oil
o Poultry Business,
o Buying and Selling of Raw Foodstuffs,
o Buying and Selling of Fruits,
o Buy Fresh Fish, Smoking it and Selling,
o Restaurant, Cafeteria,
o Krukru and Adakwa, Processing with Processing of Groundnuts Oil.
ORGANIZED TRAINING PROSPECTIVE BENEFICIARIES ON RIGA VENTURE MANAGEMENT, BASIC BOOK KEEPING, RIGA MONITORING WITH THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROJECT AND FINALISING SELECTION OF RIGA VENTURES FOR BENEFICIARIES:
Training on setting up RIGA ventures, basic bookkeeping, and the management of RIGA ventures was organized in Bamenda, grouping beneficiaries from 03 Sub Divisions, that is Bamenda I, II and III all from Mezam Division of the North West Region. This training took place on Thursday 31/10/2019 and Friday 01/11/2019 at the Mondial Hotel Complex in Bamenda from 8 am to 4 pm daily. Also an aspect of Gender based violence was handled during the training by Mrs. Mary Nyuyinui UN National Expert for GBV.
119 persons that is 02 Mbororrors(an indigenous group), 18 Housas, and the others were destitute persons from the mainstream society. All together 04 men and 115 women benefitted from this training, with 59 on the first day and 60 benefitted from the second day of training. Selected beneficiaries were all trained on the project expectations and context, basic bookkeeping and management of their micro businesses and Gender Based Violence.
We seized this opportunity and did needs and skill assessment with beneficiaries expressing their particular skills and business needs that were captured, so that beneficiaries who needed skills could be placed at the Women Empowerment Centre and those who did not skills could start receiving their support almost immediately, paving a way forward for the subsequent establishment RIGA ventures for them. The main trainers for the project were Tata Nelson Berinyuy Coordinator for CHRAPA, Babila Tanyi Livelihoods Officer for CHRAPA, Mrs. Mary Nyuyinui UN National Expert for GBV and the representative of the Women Empowerment Centre Bamenda, Mr. Lukong Frankline.
The Representative of the Women Empowerment Centre who drilled on what the Centre offers and how beneficiaries could benefit from the centre.
CHRAPA organized the same trainings in the following communities in Belo on the 12/11/2019, Fundong on the 09/11/2019 all in Boyo Division, Mbengwi on the 07/11/2019 in Momo Division, Babungo on the 09/11/2019 and 12/11/2019 in Ngo-ketunjia Division and Bafut on the 09/11/2019 in Mezam Division. CHRAPA had earlier trained the paralegals on RIGA Venture Management, Basic Book Keeping, RIGA Monitoring and Finalising the Selection of RIGA ventures for beneficiaries.
QUICK IMPACT PROJECTS ARE SETUP TO ECONOMICALLY SUPPORT GBV SURVIVORS AND WOMEN GROUPS
CHRAPA resolved to support, a total of supporting a total of 304 direct beneficiaries in setting up individual and group quick impact businesses. CHRAPA after careful analysis, strategized to reach more women in empowering them with RIGA beyond the project expectations, strategized to support but individual and group businesses simultaneously, with the support distributed as follows:
INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES:
For individual RIGAs CHRAPA is supporting
- 75 from Bamenda I, II and III, Mezam Division
- 8 from Bafut, Mezam Division
- 38 from Fundong,-Boyo Division
- 6 from Belo – Boyo Division
- 28 from Mbengwi –Momo Division and
- 8 from Babungo- Ngoketunjia Division
Totaling 163 individual RIGA establishments
For Group businesses CHRAPA supported the groups on RIGA:
While in relation to 04 cooperatives selected for support, 03 have fully been supported with their RIGA establishments.
- In Bafut on 13 November 2019, Virtuous Women Group, group of destitute grassroots women who were earlier trained on 09/11/2019 with a membership of 29 and are currently engaged in the sales of Provisions items was supported by this project to start their current business.
- In Babungo on the 15/11/2019 a group of destitute grassroots Moslem women called Moslem women SARGI group with 30 active members earlier trained on the 09/11/2019, was empowered by this project to conduct the business of buying and selling raw foodstuffs within their community.
- And in Fundong Love your neighbor self-help group, a group of really destitute grassroots women with 35 active members, earlier trained on 09/11/2019 was supported to begin their current business venture of buying and selling of palm oil/groundnuts oil and raw foodstuff(beans/maize, rice) by this project on the 13/11/2019
- In the Belo, the group Friends of Goodwill with a membership of 27 was supported on
16/11/2019 to do Poultry Business.
ORGANIZE MULTIPLE HANDS ON TRAININGS WITH BENEFICIARIES TILL THEY ACQUIRE THE REQUIRED SKILLS.
Most beneficiaries preferred RIGA ventures where they have got skills and have been practicing it for the past years in order to avoid the risk of losing the capital. At the end we did not have any beneficiaries who needed skills as most beneficiaries wanted to receive their support almost immediately to start their RIGA as many were really financially desparate and needed something that could start generating income to sustain.
IDENTIFY AND SELECT COOPERATIVES THROUGH A PRECISE SELECTION CRITERIA.
CHRAPA did identify over 18 women cooperatives with a membership that consist of GBV survivors, IDPs , IDP host communities and people living with disabilities.
CHRAPA resolved to support 5, that is; 03women groups, 01 Muslim group and 01 group of people living with disabilities.
- In Bafut- Virtuous Women Group- 29 members engaged in the sales of Provisions
- In Babungo-Moslem women group called Moslem women SARGI group in Babungo- 30 active members, supporting them in the buying and selling raw foodstuff
- In Fundong-Love your neighbor self-help-35 active members, supporting them in selling of palm oil/groundnuts oil and raw foodstuff(beans/maize, rice)
- In Mbengwi-Loving sisters group-Bome with a total of 20 active members in the buying and selling of animal feed
- Belo Sub Division 1 group of people living with disabilities with a membership of 27
5.0 ORGANISED A GRAND PROJECT SYMBOLIC HAND OVER OF THE RIGA ACTIVITIES:
On the 02 of November 2019, the beneficiaries, the Press and Project stakeholders were actively mobilized for the symbolic handing over of the micro project items at the Mondial Hotel Complex at 1 pm.
The event was heavily attended with 189 persons in attendance, comprising of project stakeholders/partners that:
- UN Women represented by Mrs. Mary Nyuyinui UN National Expert for GBV,
- The Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family represented by the Regional Delegate Mr. Wirba Hasan, (who did the official symbolic handover), The Regional Chief for Women Economic Empowerment , the Regional Chief for Gender in charge of the SAFE SPACE and other staff of the delegation,
- CHRAPA represented by the Coordinator and the entire staff body,
- The Women Empowerment Centre represented by the Director and staff of the centre,
- The press with representatives from various news organs that is newspapers, radio stations and TV Stations. Amongst the main media houses invited were: CRTV (both the French and English Desk), EQUINOX TV, CANAL 2 International, Abakwa Radio Station, The Eden Newspaper, The Sun Newspaper, The Voice Newspaper, The Voice of America, The Horizon Newspaper, Afrique Nouvelle Radio station etc.
- To be beneficiaries and the general public.
The event earlier envisaged to start at 1 PM eventually started at a few minutes pas 15.00 local time and symbolically RIGA venture gifts were all handed over to beneficiaries marking the debut of the establishment of RIGA ventures for the various beneficiaries in the NW Region of Cameroon with our project areas.… ‘
RESULTS:
CHRAPA supported a total of 168 RIGA businesses for both groups and individuals. That is a total of 163 individual businesses and 05 groups of women in Belo, Fundong, Babungo, Mbengwi, and Bafut making a total of 304 direct beneficiaries. That is supported 141 members through women group/cooperative RIGA businesses and 163 individual businesses
| Domain | NUMBER | Age disaggregation | |||
| ≤ 18 | ≤ 30 | ≤ 50 | Greater than 50 | ||
| Buying and Selling of Raw Food Stuff | 37 | ||||
| Buying and Selling of Fruits | 02 | ||||
| Buying and Selling of Palm Oil and Vegetable Oils | 11 | ||||
| Cafetaria | 01 | ||||
| Buying and Selling of Firewood | 05 | ||||
| Selling of Cooked Food/ Restaurant | 06 | ||||
| Manicure and Pedicure | 02 | ||||
| Petty Provision Store | 95 | ||||
| Production of Kuru-kuru and Adakwa and processing of Natural Groundnuts Oil | 02 | ||||
| Poultry Farming | 51 | ||||
| Flour Business(Production of Puff-puff, Chin Chin, cakes and other flour businesses) | 29 | ||||
| Buying and selling of animal feed | 20 | ||||
| Selling of dry fish(Bunga) | 01 | ||||
| Selling Kerosene | 01 | ||||
| Smoking of fish | 03 | ||||
| TOTAL | 304 | ||||
