Farmers Hope | Enhancing Electronic-VSLA

Almost 75% of African community workers and entrepreneurs in untapped communities lack electronic sustainable community associations that offers effective 24/7 capital credits electronically  and small-scale insurance for community entrepreneurs or business inputs, lack of secure computerized Village Savings and Loan Associations to deliver trainings on sustainable business techniques and effective online marketing opportunities. Herein reducing negative impact of communicable pandemics.

Farmers Hope intended to reach out more farmers, entrepreneur’s,  self-industrial workers, by building capacity for them to get 24/7 support of marketing opportunities, accessibility to get loan from villages, accessibility to emergency insurances and 24/7 support of improved trainings per each venture and other businesses techniques through technology of Electronic Village Savings & Loan Association model and distribution of 1 smartphone per registered household.   

African economy is based on such Agribusiness, trade and industries hence this solution could have 90% promoted economic status per served globally. 

Almost 85% of people in African continent depends on agriculture, trade and industry as sources of income and they value these fields as their valued jobs and businesses to earn a living. But due to the problem of absence of effective technology for competitive help of high productivity has lessens agricultural productivity, low incomes in businesses plus highly affected with communicable pandemics, and this leads to unreliable jobs, unemployment, poor quality jobs and devaluation of entrepreneurship benefits in many untapped communities.       

Malawi is landlocked, low income country in Africa. Hence 80% consists of smallholder farmers and nearly 70% of people live below the international poverty line.  Unfortunately, almost 1.9 Million households here in Malawi are affected with hunger, jobless, extreme poverty and poor marketing opportunities. See https://www.zodiakmalawi.com/n...  plus communicable pandemics which is accelerating more due to low integration of technology that almost over 40 -60 million households globally are affected to extreme poverty for lacking jobs and businesses according to World Economic Forum and the World Bank. Hence the salary of Malawian civil servants has decreased with 50% for the cause.

Farmers Hope wants to create and promote good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurship through  Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association (E-VSLA) technology which works to offer loan, small scale insurance for village emergencies, provide savings services to the registered beneficiaries in untapped and underprivileged communities with 24 hours intelligent support system services without physical restrictions and distribution of smartphones  mobiles to such beneficiaries. Also works to provide improved complete agribusiness or agricultural trainings, articles and comprehensive entrepreneurship expertise to its beneficiaries. Hence this is web-based app developed multilingual, B2C and dynamically designed to allow interaction of business owners and farmers with our successful instructors to equip them for high productivity and marketing opportunities as it has features of e-commerce. This E-VSLA platform is integrated with Telecommunication Network of Malawi (TNM) by the system product called MPAMBA (My capital)  locally which it acts as E-VSLA Finance Pool where all process of savings and loan transfer is done wirelessly and ability to serve many beneficiaries at once anytime, anywhere local with simple smart short coding. Hence this is sustainable intervention beyond funding that involves beneficiaries taking on more interventions that work in a synergistic way towards facilitating its services through technology.

This solution intends to improve above 79% of population for small-scale entrepreneurs and small-scale famers in marginalized communities by building capacity of investments inputs and wide range accessibility of marketing as well as expertise systematically. Hence to promote self-sustainable job creation and inclusive entrepreneurship. Currently, we facilitate awareness of technology on how small-scale business processes and farming can be integrated with modern technologies to enable effective and competitive productivity, and such awareness involvement occurs in the existing local community subgroups where our proven intervention serves as we develop the solution.

The solution shall set affordable interests of 10% per credit which Is affordable financial recovery strategy to underprivileged persons as inputs for their businesses and farming to enable every beneficiary in the community get loan for self-sustainment entrepreneurship. Hence as a dynamic E-commerce Information System shall help to find inclusive marketing opportunities for stallholder entrepreneurs and famers to sell their products effectively rather than allowing unauthorized vendors who used to downgrade small medium entrepreneurs by consuming their products at low prices and sell at very highly and triple winning prices due to lack of awareness and effective technology to small medium entrepreneurs. 

In marginalized communities people depends on small-medium entrepreneurship and agribusiness as jobs but in absence of inputs capital and integrated technologies for small-mediums resulted into low productivity, lack of advocacy and effective communication, lack of marketing opportunities and many negative shocks hence such jobs and entrepreneurship turned to be poor. Meanwhile with our Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association technology we have touched each angle of improving small entrepreneurs starting from accessibility of; Capital, business networking, handheld technology for expertise, savings, small-scale insurances to make them prosper that above 79%(above 11million_households) should have good self-sustainment jobs and entrepreneurships.  

For so many years there have been downgrading, low technology involvement, inconsideration and unsuccessful goals upon small medium entrepreneurs in marginalized communities. 

Usually, 90% scale of locally nonprofit organizations that works to enable capital or loan accessibility purposely to enhance businesses and job creation  through Village Savings and Loan Associations, they implement such projects without necessity of technology involvement due to the tradition ethics and usual mentality that small medium entrepreneurs in marginalized communities  cannot be integrated with extensive technology, hence this has brought challenges like poor marketing opportunities, low productivity, data inconsistency,  slow growth pilots, inaccurate operations, data redundancies, slow movement, physical registration, high expenditures for instance transportation of information and training's traveling costs  as a result of non-computerized VSLAs. Sometimes it remains only organization systems that manages financial transactions as technology without beneficiary’s intervention.       

Hence, we have thoroughly understood that Village Savings and Loan Association is a type of micro-finance that involves beneficiaries taking more intervention in all processes to have freely access to credits services, marketing opportunities, training's, savings and small-scale insurance services. Hence, we have come up with Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association to unlock  technology freedom and close the gap of technology for small medium entrepreneurs and community workers in underprivileged communities to have awareness of technology, free 24/7 access to  loans and paperless registration, online training publications, accurate computerized interests per household savings processes, integrating with wide-range B2C model e-commerce platform, paperless information transmission and sustainable insurance services just to mention a few.

Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association is specifically a web-based Information System developed to integrate small medium entrepreneur’s business processes through its feature of e-commerce that involves advertisement, place orders, shipping, online auction, B2C model, e-tailing and facilitate 24/7 training's on integrated business skills, building effective self-business venture, advancing existence and creation of self-employments, digital marketing skills, website re directions through social medias, online customers engagement and managing customer`s pipeline, product quality maintaining skills, inventory management skills and production skills through its system integrated feature known as MailChimp that involves delivering training's, expertise and required information relevant per similar conceptual group of many beneficiaries at once. Hence this information system is capable of managing and grouping online engaged associates, benefactors, investors for the growth of pilots to reach out more beneficiaries and keeping track of customers contacts and  other online influencers easily.

On top of that, this technology information system proudly called Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association shall be providing basic eight modules training's and these includes; Groups, Leadership and Customer Cultivation online, Electronic Savings and Credit Policies, Interests and Small-scale Insurance Policies, Development of Cycle Share-out constitution, Record Keeping and How to Manage e-Meetings, First Savings Meeting, First Loan Disbursement , First Loan Repayment and finally Products Marketing and Model Development campaigns.

E-VSLA is integrated with Telecommunication network of Malawi to wireless transfer or offer loans via MPAMBA short coding feature as the beneficiaries registered their mobile numbers online on the system page known as E-VSLA Loan Registration.   

As a new and  developing system we proved and tested it its services found to be working perfectly, currently the system is working to enable beneficiaries to register online and keep tract of registered data in the database store of the system and then to provide trainings based on the stored data as well as beneficiaries can register their loans and receive as long as the fund is available and do any other financial transaction.  Just a demonstration the following lady is one of the registered members as a beneficiary and support group leader enjoying trainings and expertise from the system. Since as a new technology model we are currently much to provide awareness, expertise and trainings of this innovative technology to the beneficiaries as we are continuing developing it to its desirable state.  

WATCH WHAT OUR ENTREPRENEURS SAYS

Activities

The intervention involves facilitation and awareness of this technology through several media platforms basically print media, community support groups, presentation interviews, broadcasting, social media, community sensitization and many other ways. And also includes enhancing the existence entrepreneurs and community workers by delivering trainings, expertise per involved venture or entrepreneurs on how to use and integrate with this technology, providing full trainings and directions to new ventures. Undertaking investments fundraising per active pilot.

Outputs

Beneficiaries getting involved and known the concept of the intervention through the facilitation and awareness activities in a means of their media publication or community sensitization. A lot of existence ventures including entrepreneurs and community workers expanded knowledge on the use of this technology and newly born job holders or business owners finds capacity to get involved.

Short Term Outcomes

Individual beneficiaries start integrating their business, jobs with technology and ably to register loan for their investment inputs at least with the basic amounts, Individual beneficiaries starts managing local inventory and monitoring purchases using their hand-held gadgets, Beneficiaries demonstrates track record keeping for customers or stakeholders, individual beneficiaries start keeping documented invoices from the system per purchase or booked contract opportunity.

 Long Term Outcomes

Beneficiaries manages MailChimp communication with their customers, influencers, stakeholders, associates to their ventures, Beneficiaries employs other people for high production due successful marketing, Highly expansion of ventures globally and have international communication to enhance country economy and competitive sales opportunities, Commonly known and brought high retention of influencers on the platform,  having high interests levels and big outstanding recovery insurance for the restoration of every registered entrepreneurs or community workers. Brought high retention of funders, associates, benefactors to enables provision of beneficiary’s inputs and wide-range supports.

We are currently serving 17,600 people from various districts as we are developing this model to reach out more beneficiaries and is planned that by the end of one year (twelve months) we expect to serve 211,200 people despite indirect beneficiaries, and also expected that in the next five years we will be serving over 1,056,000 people approximately despite indirect beneficiaries . This is a dynamic growing model as web-based information system will be accessed anywhere, anyone and anytime. Hence it will be only for us as system administrators to control the distribution economy through consideration of the probability of beneficiaries per district in the distribution.  For instance, herein Malawi we have twenty-eight genuine districts. Meanwhile this model is having ability to serve much as many people registered based on the presence of inputs. In this case we designed it in that way.

It is our heartedly desire to transform a lot of population within a span of time and enhance modern civilization across the world. Meanwhile, our goal in the next year is to reach out over 422,400+ individuals directly per households and have built capacity of inputs in form of investment loans, intensive business and technology awareness, registered to E-VSLA savings and small scale business insurances to promote good self-entrepreneurship and jobs for them  to supports their families, communities and country economy. And this means that single member involved in this model will be trained how to integrate business with technology, production processes, technical trainings, marketing opportunities and etcetera dynamic techniques for effective movement. Upon successfully training such individuals in diverse working and entrepreneurship activities we will offer them recommendation letter to empower them and take the measure into practice as well as be able to share expertise and impartation of civic guidance with other surrounded influencers. In this model we designed creative operational philosophy known as “Extensional Harvest”. Meaning that a single successfully trained member can bear fruits and extend population engagement by training up to 10 people approximately but not limited to and becomes members of this model and get an award, and those 10 can also sharpen another 10 and so on. Hence as adynamic technology-based model, within 5 years we expect to transform more than 10 million households.

Currently, we are having hedges  of financial barriers since we are not planned to only provides words of expertise or training's to change lives but effectively touching souls by building capacity for them to get an amount of money and 1 smartphone as loan package per individual  ranging from $100 per individual to advance or as a capital start their own ventures  for self-sustainability based on the skills gained after training's and custom loan ranges allowed based on the terms and conditions of distribution economy. Meanwhile, we are in the lack of funds to unlock these goals and to be resourceful model in offering the beneficiaries inputs. As the model that is to handle huge of data plus very sensitive clients and beneficiary’s data, we are lacking to meet up securable cloud hosting and resourceful platforms as security barrier for Server Database Engine Authorization System to regulates effective security upon e-commerce tables, legislation tables and other information classes or containers.  Technically, we also have slight slow speed barrier for our system that usually occurs from 5-9.7 seconds to load the main site due to the small (Basic plan) hosting plans and limited data and email storage activated. With the same anomaly, the current hosting plan does not provide full e-commerce features which is affecting our goal of integrating products from entrepreneurs, artists, tailors, farmers, carpenters, etcetera to digital marketing as well as with global known merchant’s payment methods.    

Upon fundraising activities, building partnerships and reliable relationships with stakeholders, associates, benefactors as well as influencers locally and abroad including  investors to proven social impact like MTI Solve whose unlocks the potential to create innovative changes that solves problems at large, we believe through these we will have fund to offer investments inputs and serve millions lives in form of loans package and we will make sure that one individual per household is involved in the model  and must not reach the maximum credit level of the distribution economy, as well as reactivating following turn of loan after thoroughly disbursement of the recent registered loan. Therefore, in the same measure we will able to purchase and trigger SSL security so that Server Database Engine Authorization System will then regulates security functionalities over the whole system including e-commerce tables, legislation tables and other information classes or containers. At the same time, we will move the subdomain of our model to main domain through the resourceful cloud hosting platform that will help to overcome the rest following barriers stated in this way;  Allow speed optimization to at least 1.7 seconds page loading representing 75% of web when other scripts are minified and products images are compressed. Offers unlimited data and email storage (Premium plan) to allow unlimited data storing and approved associate email registration. Supports full e-commerce features to allow integration of products digital marketing as well as global third-party payment methods like, PayPal, Credit card, etc.

Currently we are 3 full-time staff members and 15 Support Group Leaders Part-time Volunteers. Hence in near future we expect to expand as the intervention grows to its expected state.

Farmers Hope consists of young proficient and enthusiasm founding members who stays in the community and have fully awareness of entrepreneurship, technology, capacity building, job creation, poverty, and some done professional development studies and have personally worked in various organization previously in the field of social, Entrepreneurship  and economy, community development  and sustainable programs for number of years and then wants to change communities to fight against poor quality jobs, unemployment, old model business processing, as well as unproductive entrepreneurship with advanced innovative intervention of technology based.  

Just to list a few below;

Willard Phinifolo | Team Leader

Worked as System Analyst, Web developer plus involved Digital Marketing Specialist  

Key skills and duties performed

• Developing Standalone and Web-based systems and database management  
• Demonstrating track record of organizing various advocates and associates at online platforms to participate in, support, and collaboration.
• Building and maintaining relationships with multiple stakeholders at online platforms to ensure smooth marketing and project delivery.
• Application of strong interpersonal communication skills, fundraising skills, negotiation skills and excellence marketing skills. 
• Email-marketing

Zione Phiri | Support Group Leader (Approved Entrepreneur)

Worked as Agricultural Field Facilitator

Key skills and duties performed

• Implement an instructional, therapeutic, or skill development program for Social education trainings to assigned team, subgroups and show written evidence of preparation as required.
• Participate in conducting field assessments as well as feasibility researches to measure progress against project indicators, in collaboration with the project M&E
• Partake in Programme planning and reviewing of recorded meetings.

Currently we are partnering with three groups of partners for the integration of system requirements as well as phase development.

• University of Malawi, The Polytechnic CEC Institute of Technology and System development are piloting the development by using their resources, supervision and project evaluation.   
• Telecommunication Network of Malawi partners integrates function features of system particularly in customized short-coding access for our system as input to offer Loans to the beneficiaries wirelessly through mobile local network.
• Hunger Poverty Relief Organization partners support piloting the solution in provision of proven human development, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable programs manuals and other necessity training manuals.

This model developed with the aim to improve the living standard of populations and leave no one behind in the middle and marginalized communities. Hence to improve, create and promote good jobs and effective entrepreneurships, building self-sustainable households and unlocking technology gap among small medium entrepreneurs (SME) and community workers. The model integrates the business functions among community workers and entrepreneurs by branding their ventures, direct selling their products, delivering business and technical skills, providing wide range marketing opportunities and customer relationship management functions. Meanwhile these beneficiaries are in different ventures some are small medium entrepreneurs in different product businesses categories such as food products, Agri-products, Artistic and leave no any SME`s behind and others are  community workers products including tailoring products and services, carpentry products and services, builders products and services , and leave no community worker behind. The model integrates all these into a smart trade of buying and selling of products and services through online as a system feature of this model. There are so many food product processors companies, building and carpentry contractors, consumers, direct buyers and many industries who seeks to buy from origin as trusted source, genuine, unprocessed products for 100% expected results. And associates, supporters, solvers and life changers, charity individuals need to get involved into direct beneficiaries for satisfactory compassion and direct touch and escalating the model`s revenue. This model consolidates the possibility of such trade and communications easily wireless without necessity of physical research.

The model shall have various investment alternatives to help funding of its operations. Just to mention few In such a matter, we will introduce “Net-Cycle Pool” upon training entrepreneurs’ in  local and expected abroad with  various businesses and profit-making jobs we will also train them to invest 20% per particular time and per standard amount upon individual`s venture into the model`s  Net-Cycle Pool to enable themselves a small 12 months mature insurance scheme and maintains their existence in the model. Hence as we will be operating with millions of beneficiaries the more investment fund shall be available. And the model shall have its Products possessing enterprises as well as warehouse such as seeds, effective localized manure, Peanut butter, pure local jam, Soya Health porridge, purchasing from the beneficiary’s products and to supply them to wide range business owners including Shoprite’s, distributors, direct customers and stakeholders by wholesale and retailing to sustain long term investment capability. And every loan registered per household there shall be 10% disbursement, hence the more millions of people getting involved the more investment fund increases. Hence the model shall also have building and carpentry contractors team source funds upon schooling some beneficiaries to Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocation Education and Training Centre’s.

Therefore, through fundraising activities at local and online platforms as well as donor researching ana managing donors’ pipeline and longtime relationship based on our effective practical work the more funding opportunities shall be.

Since our solution is tech-based and developed to assist millions of people in marginalized communities no matter the age of the beneficiaries, the solution made to integrate any small medium entrepreneurs and community workers with wide-range technology. Hence to make this possible, we have learned that SOLVE accept such technology-based solution to change millions of lives for better households, communities and the world. Therefore, we would like SOLVE to help us primarily on technology barrier with fund that will enable us to diagnose and fix security anomalies by purchasing SSL, domain, enough cloud storage, as well as high speed web server services. Hereafter the Server Database Engine Authorization System shall be regulating effective security towards the entire system content including digital marketing functions (e-commerce). Upon consideration amount of money, will help to overcome all technology barriers in the backend of the system development and the frontend for the system and beneficiaries’ interaction as well as initialize the investment inputs for Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association to meet beneficiaries.  

It is also our desire to build long term partnerships globally to enhance our anticipated solution goals be successful in reaching millions of lives across the nationwide. Also seek to partner with various associates for long time who involves in compassion of transforming underprivileged communities including poverty eradication, zero hunger, entrepreneurship and self-sustenance, youth leadership, women empowerment, sustainable goals and other social impacts.  Also, as innovative youths we hope to grow through mentorship by highly experienced technical partners. With strong partnership in our current solution, we hope to grow and expand the model to thoroughly deliver proposed functions and meeting the expected population within five years.  

We would like to partner with other organizations with different backgrounds purposely to transform millions of populations. And here include but not limited to;

Mohammed bin Rashid, Sustainable Harvest International

Partnering and getting involved in building capacity to underprivileged community farmers in finding better marketing opportunities and felicitating improved agricultural techniques to enable bumper 3 times harvest per year enhancing zero hunger and poverty eradication.  

Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Morgridge Family Foundation

Partnering and getting involved in building capacity in promoting social smart distance for good health and mitigating communicable diseases including COVID-19 crisis and beyond in underprivileged and middle areas through development and empowerment of digital marketing, ecommerce and creation of online jobs for self-sustenance.  

SOLVE, Atlassian Foundation

Partnering and getting involved in building capacity in bringing awareness of technology and business, enhancing tech-based prosperity skills, and unlocking potential benefits of small medium entrepreneurs and workers in untapped communities.

Restless Development

We as youths we seek also to partner with other youth led organization like Restless Development in empowering, sharing ideas, expertise as well as designing a quick innovative human crisis response to any effect for the relief and redemption of the living.

Hence any other partners want to support us are welcome to do so, we are proud to partner with them and ready to directly transform lives.

The solution will perform its activities including capacity building for the refugee’s opportunities and accessibility to loans and intensive entrepreneurial trainings for the establishment of their own entrepreneurships as well as awareness of integrating business processes and technology. Hence to boost their autonomy, self confidence and social status.   

Locally, Village Savings and Loan Association was first introduced as Microfinance association that involves beneficiaries taking more intervention and self-governed of which 75% are women in a way of promoting women economic, better homes and capacity building for creation of small medium entrepreneurships among women for and self-sustainable communities. Hence this improved solution of Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association will advance capacity building of unlocking the technology freedom of various women ventures or businesses with marketing opportunities, production expertise as well as accessibility to easy and wireless financial capital for their investments. Hence, we will provide financial reports upon consideration and meeting the intended results for such Women Prize.

For so many years there have been downgrading, low technology involvement, inconsideration and unsuccessful goals upon small medium entrepreneurs in marginalized communities. 

Usually, 90% scale of locally nonprofit organizations that works to enable capital or loan accessibility purposely to enhance businesses and job creation  through Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), they implement such projects without necessity of technology involvement due to the tradition ethics and usual mentality that small medium entrepreneurs in marginalized communities  cannot be integrated with extensive technology, hence this has brought challenges like poor marketing opportunities, low productivity, data inconsistence,  slow growth pilots, inaccurate operations, data redundancies, slow movement, physical registration, high expenditures for instance transportation of information and trainings traveling costs  as a result of non-computerized VSLAs.

Herewith our innovation, we have thoroughly understood that Village Savings and Loan Association is a type of microfinance that involves beneficiaries taking more intervention in all processes to have freely access to credits services, marketing opportunities, trainings, savings and small-scale insurance services. Hence, we have come up with Electronic Village Savings and Loan Association to unlock  technology freedom and close the gap of technology for small medium entrepreneurs and community workers in underprivileged communities to have awareness of technology, easy 24/7access to get loans and paperless registration, online training publications, accurate computations interests per household savings processes, integrating with wide-range B2C model e-commerce platform, paperless information transmission and sustainable insurance services, all in all improving Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship.

Our solution is not leaving any one behind especially in such underprivileged, untapped and marginalized communities. Meanwhile our solution is tech-based that still needs basic literacy for the beneficiaries to manage further communication and self-accessing the system without literacy boundary or hindrances. We notice this during our researches and we are facilitating awareness of this solution through community trainings that are categorized into three categories depending on the beneficiaries including adult beneficiaries to impart basic practical knowledge of reading, writing, chart realization as well as basic economic management to enable adults have opportunities in self-sustainable entrepreneurships.