Strengthen 100 Vulnerable Households in Calabar

STRENGTHEN 100 VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS IN CALABAR

March 2020

Our goal for the project from inception has been to work with the most vulnerable women-led households in our target communities to move them a position of core poverty and dependence on handouts to one of the self-provision of necessities for their households.  

In the first phase of the project, we enrolled forty women who are caregivers of their households with an average of four children in each household. These women are responsible for shelter, clothing, feeding, education, and healthcare for their children. These women averaged income of about N5000 or $15 per month in addition to growing much of their food.

These women were qualified by the utilization of the national vulnerability tool and qualified as very vulnerable. They also had to have a small portion of land to grow the crops and agree to be trained, sign an agreement that stipulated their operational guidelines and agreed to be bound by it.

At inception, they were put through financial literacy and agricultural training. Agricultural inputs were then provided for them and they were monitored by the project team for adherence to guidelines with planting, watering, and management of the crops.

Despite these measures, the results from this phase were mixed. It was difficult to get many of the beneficiaries to abide by the agreement they had signed. Despite training, they struggled to manage the higher income crops introduced to them and after these were grown required support to sell them. Some with smaller parcels of land didn’t produce as much as was required. Too much of the sales income was consumed, breaking the productivity cycle. Our beneficiaries struggled to save the minimum amounts from sales despite that this was limited to 20% and often spent on their necessities.

Last quarter, we decided to take a step back to evaluate the pilot in order to improve on the subsequent phases. Working with feedback from the beneficiaries we decided that we would no longer introduce any crops they were not familiar with but would support the two main crops that these women cultivate for sale. These are two vegetables, known as sense and water leaves.

Our women and the communities in which they reside have years of expertise in the cultivation and sales of these crops. These crops are also all-season crops and do well all through the year. There is also an established practice of buying easily available planting stalks for replanting each monthly cycle amongst the women in these communities. This bodes well for continuous planting cycles and income sustainability. Also,  we decided to drop from the project all those who were uncommitted, refused or failed to comply with the agreement as well as those who didn’t have sufficient portions of land and replace with those who had land and were prepared to be committed and comply.

After completing this re-evaluation, over the last few weeks we commenced the process of re-evaluating and enrolment of replacement beneficiaries for the project. The beneficiaries for this next phase will next undergo orientation and training before inputs are provided for them over the next few weeks. It is believed that with the additional measures we would see an improvement in outcomes and in the long term have beneficiaries who graduate from the program and can sustainably provide for their households for the long term.

Thank you