That’s why we’re thrilled to announce on Earth Day new funding from the Arcus Foundation to expand Village Enterprise’s PARKS project in Kibale National Park, Uganda!

The Poverty Alleviation and Removal of Kibale Snares (PARKS) project, implemented in partnership with Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, was launched in 2021 with funding from the Arcus Foundation to reduce extreme poverty among rural communities near Kibale National Park and to protect one of the largest remaining populations of endangered East African chimpanzees and their habitat. Without opportunities to earn sustainable incomes, households living in extreme poverty near the park have often relied on illegal hunting and lumbering in order to provide for their families. Village Enterprise works to equip these communities with the training, startup funding, and ongoing business mentoring to launch businesses that do not harm vital ecosystems in and around Kibale National Park. As a result, households are able to earn greater incomes, break the cycle of extreme poverty, and become stewards of their environment.

PARKS impact to date

Three years into this project, PARKS has already made a tangible impact in the Kibale National Park region. To date, Village Enterprise has trained 3,823 entrepreneurs (63% of whom are women) who have worked together in groups of three to launch 1,077 businesses in the area. As a result of their businesses, more than 20,000 lives have been impacted as these new business owners lift themselves and their families onto a sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty.

On top of these outcomes, Village Enterprise has helped establish 109 business savings groups (BSGs) as part of the PARKS project. The BSGs are a crucial part of our poverty graduation model—giving entrepreneurs a community where they are encouraged to put away savings on a weekly basis. They also provide an important safety net as entrepreneurs are able to access greater capital in the form of loans that they can take out in case of emergency or to further expand their business.

Last year, Village Enterprise also introduced a new component to strengthen the climate and conservation pillar of this project: conservation champions. Within each BSG, a conservation champion is selected, trained on conservation practices, and then equipped to share their expertise with BSG and community members. Together with their village, the conservation champion creates a tailored conservation plan for their community that supports the protection of wildlife and vital ecosystems. The conservation champions then work with fellow BSG members to ensure all newly-launched businesses are environmentally-friendly and conduct follow-up meetings to ensure actionable steps have been taken—at both the household and community level—towards achieving the village’s conservation plan. To date, Village Enterprise has trained and empowered 52 conservation champions.

On top of launching businesses to reduce the need for illegal hunting, and introducing conservation messaging to reduce habitat destruction, PARKS is taking another proactive measure to ensure the local population of endangered East African chimpanzees is protected. Through Ngogo Chimpanzee Project’s work on the project, 824 hunting snares have been removed from Kibale National Park. With active monitoring of park borders, anti-poaching patrols, and the removal of snares, PARKS aims to continue seeing diminished hunting in and around the park and an increase in the overall chimpanzee population.

Meet two extraordinary entrepreneurs

Wilson from Katabe Village

Prior to joining Village Enterprise, Wilson, 55, relied on farming and casual labor to provide for his eight children. His crops—which he planted in the wetlands of Mpanga in Kibale National Park—yielded very little each season and, unbeknownst to him, began to degrade the swamp’s ecosystem.

As Village Enterprise provided training on how to launch a sustainable business, the conservation messaging struck home for Wilson. He realized he needed to play an active role in restoring the wetlands and quickly got to work. By moving his crops inland and utilizing innovative farming techniques to maximize his smaller plot of land, Wilson began growing and selling cabbages, zucchini, and tomatoes, allowing the wetlands to naturally restore themselves. With his profits, Wilson diversified his income sources by launching a beekeeping business in the area. Not only does it provide a secondary source of income throughout the year, but the bees help pollinate gardens in the area and keep out roaming elephants, preventing a loss of damaged crops and reducing the chances of potential human-wildlife conflict.

With the guidance of the conservation champion from his BSG, Wilson was also able to use some of his business profits to build energy-saving cooking stoves and plant 50 mango trees. Because these cooking stoves are more efficient than traditional stoves, they require less firewood which helps reduce the need for sourcing lumber. Additionally, the mango trees contribute both to the area’s biodiversity, and the fruit can be sold for profit or supplement his household’s food reserves. With his conservation champion’s guidance, Wilson has been able to restore the natural habitat around his community, and utilize the natural resources available in a way that does not harm the environment.

Wilson’s businesses have not only advanced conservation and habitat restoration, but they’ve impacted his own life and the lives of his children as well. Using his business profits, he’s been able to pay school fees for all of his children and has bought two cows and five goats. He plans to start selling their milk and offspring with the hopes of finishing a new home.

Grace from Busoro Hamusoko Village

Grace, 49, found farming increasingly difficult due to the unpredictable weather in her village brought on by climate change. As a single mother to nine children, she struggled to make enough money to provide for her children’s basic needs, such as consistent meals or paying for all of their school fees. But this all began to change when she joined Village Enterprise.

Through the training she received on business diversification, Grace knew that she needed to have multiple sources of income in order to build resilience and mitigate the risks caused by climate change. Together with her two business partners, they first launched a retail store selling household goods and food staples, and quickly used their profits to expand into goat rearing and growing maize. Collectively, these three businesses will support Grace and her business partners throughout the year as the weather patterns fluctuate.

With additional training on the importance of conservation near Kibale National Park, Grace’s conservation champion also helped her plant coffee trees in the area. Not only will these trees contribute to reforestation and bolstering the ecosystem, but harvesting coffee beans from the trees will be yet another source of income that Grace can use to support her family.

Already, Grace has been able to pay school fees for her children and provide them with increased and more nutritious meals. Her dream is to be able to continue saving up enough to send all of her children to university, as well as build a new house. Through her hard work, creativity, and determination, she is well on her way.

The future of PARKS

With the new funding from the Arcus Foundation, 1,890 more entrepreneurs like Wilson and Grace will be equipped with the training, startup capital, and business mentoring to launch 630 environmentally-friendly businesses and lift themselves out of extreme poverty. The funding also provides resources for removing snares, furthering conservation messaging through 42 additional conservation champions, and implementing anti-poaching patrols to reduce illegal hunting and lumbering. As a result of these conservation efforts and the businesses launched, not only will 12,600 lives be transformed, but Kibale National Park’s ecosystem will be better safeguarded, and the population of endangered East African chimpanzees will be better protected.

By empowering local communities to launch sustainable business ventures, PARKS is providing a critical link between conservation efforts and the fight against extreme poverty in rural Africa. When individuals like Wilson and Grace are given the opportunity to thrive economically while preserving their natural environment, it not only enhances their livelihoods but contributes to building a sustainable future for all.

The post Thriving together: How new enterprises around Kibale National Park are reducing poverty and saving endangered chimpanzees appeared first on Village Enterprise.

When Lotorupe joined Village Enterprise, she was 45 years old, a widow, and the primary caretaker for eight children all living together in a small mud house. Having never been to school or owned a business, she struggled to feed her children and pay for their school fees.

But through Village Enterprise, Lotorupe launched a business buying and selling goats alongside two other widows. In a region where women are traditionally not permitted to own animals—nor even allowed near livestock markets—they were collectively challenging what was possible for women in their community. And it worked. Because of the skills and training they learned through Village Enterprise, their business took off. Using the increasing profits from their business, Lotorupe was able to diversify her income by launching an additional business on the side of selling groceries, as well as keeping chickens to earn and save even more.

As a part of the Village Enterprise poverty graduation model, Lotorupe also joined a business savings group—a group of 30 entrepreneurs working together and meeting weekly to build savings, assets, and save for emergencies. Traditionally, the group records are kept in paper books, but as part of our DreamSave pilot program, Lotorupe’s business savings group began keeping all their records on the DreamSave app on a smartphone. This not only helped them maintain more accurate records, but the app sent notifications reminding Lotorupe of her savings targets and even sent celebratory alerts when she reached her goals.

Created by DreamStart Labs, the DreamSave app was piloted by Village Enterprise in 12 communities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Lotorupe loved the app so much that she eventually exceeded her savings targets. Having originally set a target of putting aside $275 USD, she ended up saving $350 USD and was able to build her family a brand new tin-roofed house. She was also able to use her profits to purchase a donkey, which she uses to fetch water and reduce her fatigue, and she has plans to sell the donkey’s offspring to further her return on investment.

Utilizing DreamSave not only encouraged and motivated Lotorupe on her business progress, but it helped her savings group become much more efficient. Their meetings grew shorter, allowing more time for the women to return to operate their businesses or run errands. DreamSave also helped the women increase their literacy skills, and they became more resilient to climate change as a result of their success. Having saved money for emergencies, digitized their records, and purchased household assets, they’re more prepared to handle unprecedented situations.

It’s been over a year since Lotorupe joined Village Enterprise, and she’s tremendously happy with her business and how much money she’s been able to save because of DreamSave. She’s been able to provide consistent, healthy meals for her children, and is now confident about what the future holds for her family.

Village Enterprise is continuing to expand the DreamSave pilot, with the goal of having all business savings groups on the app by 2025.

The post Lotorupe’s Story: Building savings, resilience, and a brighter future with DreamSave appeared first on Village Enterprise.

This International Women’s Day, we hope you’ll join us as we take a look at four of our extraordinary entrepreneurs across East Africa and celebrate their hard work and determination to build brighter futures for themselves and their families.

Joanne from Mt. Elgon, Kenya

In the mountainous region of western Kenya, Joanne, 52, and her husband take care of five children and four grandchildren. After completing training through Village Enterprise and Days for Girls in 2021, Joanne launched a business making and selling washable menstrual pads—a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solution for a region without widespread access to feminine hygiene products.

Joanne was part of a unique project designed to help women from coffee-growing communities in Mt. Elgon break cycles of extreme poverty while also dismantling menstrual health stigmas. Funded by The Starbucks Foundation, Village Enterprise and Days for Girls sought to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward menstrual heath as well as worked to ensure women like Joanne could overcome barriers and launch vital businesses needed by the community.

Along with her two business partners, who are also women, Joanne began selling their menstrual pads to nearby schools in Mt. Elgon. As a result of their efforts—and those of similar businesses started by the project—more girls in their community have been able to stay in school now that they have necessary feminine hygiene products. Women have reported an increase in self-confidence, self-respect, and self-reliance, and this project’s training on menstrual health has also led to a reduction in teen pregnancies. In fact, prior to the program, roughly 300 girls in the area dropped out of school each year because they became pregnant. But after the program, the number dropped significantly in 2022 to 60 girls. In 2023, after the program had formally ended, it continued to drop again—this time to just 28 students. As of 2024, data from the Mt. Elgon Sub-county Ministry of Education shows that enrollment for girls in high school has surpassed that for boys in the area.

Not only did Joanne’s business meet a critical need for female students, it also began slowly sparking conversations among men on menstrual health and the societal stigmas facing women. As fathers in the community witnessed the positive impact of Joanne’s initiative on their daughters’ lives, attitudes toward menstrual health began to change.

While the project between Village Enterprise and Days for Girls concluded after two years, the impact continues. The transformative influence of Joanne’s business has extended to her own life as well. Not only is she no longer living in extreme poverty, but she’s used her profits to renovate her home, purchase livestock, and pay school fees for her children. Her confidence has grown with her business success and she now sees herself as an important voice in the community, earning respect from local leaders.

As part of The Starbucks Foundation’s goal to positively impact 1 million women and girls in coffee-, tea-, and cocoa-growing communities, The Starbucks Foundation and Village Enterprise are continuing to increase income and savings and build resilience for an additional 500 women in Mt. Elgon’s coffee-growing communities by equipping first-time entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to reach their full potential and pursue their dreams.

To date, The Starbucks Foundation has empowered more than 2,400 female entrepreneurs to launch sustainable businesses through Village Enterprise, transforming the lives of more than 16,000 women, men, and children in Mt. Elgon. On top of this impact, over 8,000 women and girls have been reached in the region with cost-effective and sustainable menstrual health products. The generational impact of this will only continue to grow as more young girls continue to have unburdened access to school.

Sharon from Agago, Uganda

Before joining Village Enterprise, Sharon never imagined that she could be a leader in her community. But now, she’s proud to be one, and she’s helping other women to become leaders, too.

One of the core components of Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation model is business savings groups. Composed of 30 entrepreneurs, these groups meet weekly throughout our entire program to build savings and foster community as members support one another on their journeys to becoming first-time business owners. When the time came to select a chairperson for their business savings group, Sharon was nominated by her friend. As the votes poured in from her fellow members, they all voted in agreement: Sharon would be their first chairperson and leader.

Although she was nervous of her newfound position and responsibilities, Sharon was able to overcome her nerves through Village Enterprise’s leadership training. Her Village Enterprise business mentor also worked with her, teaching skills on how to lead people, manage group meetings, and navigate public speaking. “Because of how much I have grown through Village Enterprise, I am encouraging other women to start taking leadership positions at any level, not to shy away, but to take courage and practice the leadership skills that Village Enterprise has taught us,” said Sharon. “The training that we received has enabled us to move from nowhere, to somewhere.”

On top of growing into her own as an effective and influential leader in her community, Sharon’s business has been tremendously successful. She’s been able to use her profits to purchase household assets—such as solar panels, a bicycle, utensils, a radio, goats and pigs—and she’s currently saving up with her husband to purchase an ox which they plan to use for starting their own household farming business.

Halima from Dollo Ado, Ethiopia

Due to the prolonged droughts in southeastern Ethiopia, all of Halima’s livestock perished. With no other option but to rebuild her life elsewhere, Halima arrived at the Heleweyn Refugee Settlement as an internally displaced person along with her nine children. Without a way to earn an income, Halima relied on food from humanitarian aid organizations and asking distant relatives for help, but this was often not enough, and she and her family were left to live on less than $1 USD per day. This took a toll on Halima both physically and emotionally, as she was constantly worried about meeting her family’s basic needs.

But near the end of 2023, everything changed as Halima was selected for DREAMS. This award-winning model combines Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program with Mercy Corps’ expertise in Market Systems Development to better serve refugees and their host communities and help them build sustainable livelihoods. Halima was part of the first cohort of DREAMS entrepreneurs as the model launched in Ethiopia thanks to funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the IKEA Foundation.

Through DREAMS, Halima learned not only how to operate a business, but the leadership, communication, and financial literacy skills to make her business successful. Together with two women, Halima opened a retail store selling honey and was connected with local suppliers to enhance the overall market system. But since the honey supply naturally fluctuated with the season’s availability, they also started a second business of buying and selling goats. Together, their two businesses have been so successful that they were able to expand their original honey business into a store that also sells vegetables and other groceries.

“Today is a different day to celebrate. I remember sitting at home without work, now I am actively running a business,” said Halima, reflecting on how much her life has changed since joining Village Enterprise. “I can send my children to better healthcare services if need be, my family’s living standard and decision making has improved, and my social status has been raised.”

Halima and her business partners have enjoyed setting goals together and sharing responsibilities as their business grows. Having only been in the program for six months, they’ve come so far from where they started and their journey of transformation has only just begun. “I am quite confident of our future,” said Halima. “I want to be among the best entrepreneurs selling honey and goats in the village, and I also want to inspire other women.”

Emerance from Rulindo, Rwanda

Before joining Village Enterprise, Emerance and her two business partners, Lucie and Domithile, were farmers for survival. They grew Irish potatoes, but their harvests often did not yield enough to adequately feed themselves and their families. But now, their business called “Bright Future ” is one of the most successful in their village.

Through Village Enterprise, Emerance learned basic business skills and how to diversify income streams, but the most important thing she learned was the culture of savings and how to invest into her business to help it grow. She started selling shoes because there was demand for a shoe store in her community, but after taking a loan through her business savings group—and later successfully paying it off in full—she expanded her business to sell fabrics, which she can also tailor for customers. Recently, she and her business partners also invested in chickens, which will serve as a third way to bring in income. Emerance and her business partners continue to keep a keen eye on other gaps in the market that their business could fill and are determined to become the most successful entrepreneurs in the area.

Emerance is proud of their business success so far, but even more proud of her ability to better provide for her children. Not only has she been able to send her three children back to school, but she’s even able to afford to send them all to private school. Confident that the quality of private education will better serve her children in the long run and provide more opportunities, Emerance knows the fees are worth it for their futures. Her business partner, Lucie, has also been able to use their business profits to care for her sister’s two children, both of whom have disabilities.

Emerance, Lucie, and Domithile each share a sense of pride when reflecting on where they started from. Where they used to depend entirely on their husbands, now they’re the ones providing for household needs and feeding their children. As they look to the future, Emerance and her team want to pay it forward, too. “We want to teach other young women how to become entrepreneurs,” said Emerance. That’s the power of entrepreneurship—not only does it transform the lives of business owners and their families, but the positive impact continues to ripple outward to neighbors, communities, and generations to come.

Joanne, Sharon, Halima, and Emerance are just four of the 275,000 entrepreneurs who have launched businesses through Village Enterprise, transforming over 1.65 million lives across East Africa. Together with your support, Village Enterprise can invest in empowering millions of more women to break the cycle of extreme poverty and build brighter futures for themselves and their families.

The post Extraordinary women, extraordinary entrepreneurs appeared first on Village Enterprise.

Over the past two decades, Linnet has brought passion to every role she has taken on at Village Enterprise, and she has witnessed the organization grow from a small nonprofit to an international NGO with a team of over 500 staff members.

To celebrate her anniversary, we asked Linnet to share some of her story, along with a few of her favorite memories from the past 20 years. Join us in celebrating our stunning colleague Linnet!

Q: You’ve worked at Village Enterprise for 20 years—how incredible! Can you tell us the story of how you first got involved with Village Enterprise?

A: Thank you, that’s a good question. I cannot believe it is now two decades since I joined Village Enterprise. When I started as an intern, I assisted the prior Country Director to organize her receipts for US reporting and assist with other office work like making errands, paying bills, and keeping the office clean. It has been a long journey, though very memorable.

Q: What’s your current position, and what do you enjoy most about it?

A: Currently, I am the Finance and Administration Manager for Kenya and I am very passionate about what Village Enterprise does as an organization. As the Finance and Administration Manager, I may not directly interact with the entrepreneurs we work with, but just ensuring these entrepreneurs are supported and receive the seed capital to start their businesses to change their lives is so fulfilling.

Q: How have you seen Village Enterprise change over the past 20 years?

A: I have witnessed Village Enterprise grow all along the way. This is by having different strategic plans that led to its growth. When I joined Village Enterprise we were only three staff in Kenya (Country Director, Assistant Country Director, and myself). During that time we used to have volunteer business mentors who were engaged when funds were available. Now we have over 300 employed staff just in Kenya, multiple departments, and digital technology that has made Village Enterprise stand out. Village Enterprise started operating in a small office, but now we have three offices across Kenya located in different regions to reach those who live in extreme poverty and make their lives better.

Q: You’ve experienced and accomplished so much over the past 20 years, but do you have a favorite memory from work that stands out? Or an experience that was particularly meaningful?

A: One day we went for grant disbursement, and we had a female entrepreneur who shared her story that really touched me. She was a widow and after her husband passed on, nobody in the community wanted to associate with her—they perceived her to be a beggar. But she was lonely, and she had lost hope in life. Village Enterprise went to work in that community and through Village Enterprise’s program, she made friends and they worked together to run their business so that they could earn a living. She was able to sustain herself and her children, no longer needing to beg. The community that had isolated her now embraced her. Her story really touched me and motivated me to continue working with Village Enterprise and ensure that if there is another woman out there experiencing the same, then we can give her hope again.

Another experience that has also been fulfilling was shifting from cash disbursement to mobile money disbursement when providing business grants to our entrepreneurs. Initially during disbursement, we had to go to the bank to withdraw cash and carry it to the field which was risky. But after embracing mobile technology, this has made our disbursement process to be much more efficient and secure, and we can disburse grants to different regions at the same time, even in very remote areas.

Q: How has working at Village Enterprise impacted your life?

A: Village Enterprise has really impacted my life. Professionally, I have grown and developed so many skills. I got the chance to pursue my degree while at Village Enterprise and I was able to pay for my university fees which my parents could not afford. Through Village Enterprise, I have been able to learn and interact with two accounting packages, QuickBooks and NetSuite, which has been so amazing. Also, managing Village Enterprise funds and supporting our team in achieving Village Enterprise’s mission and vision feels really rewarding. Interacting with stunning colleagues from different countries and learning from each other has also made me grow professionally.

Congratulations, Linnet, and thank you for everything you’ve done for Village Enterprise and the entrepreneurs we serve!

The post Linnet ​​Ayuma: Celebrating 20 years at Village Enterprise appeared first on Village Enterprise.

For Mercy, she dreamed of a career doing something she loved, but extreme poverty prevented her from pursuing these ambitions—her work options were limited to whatever job she could find in Kenya to earn an income and provide for her family. But through Village Enterprise, she’s reclaiming her career dreams and, for the first time in a long time, getting excited about what her future holds.

Several years ago, Mercy—who is now 39 years old and a mother of five—landed a job in a textile factory in downtown Nairobi. Even though it was two hours away from home and the pay was minimal, it was still an income. But a serious health issue forced her to quit her job and move back home to Mbooni, Kenya—a rural region where work opportunities are scarce and income inconsistent. Now depending entirely on her husband as the sole provider for their household, money grew tight and her family struggled financially. They began skipping meals to make their food reserves last longer, and they couldn’t afford school fees for all of their children.

At one point, Mercy—still struggling with her health issues, but determined to provide for her family—found work by making gravel. Day in and day out, she would crush large stones with a hammer in exchange for an average of 100KES ($0.67 USD) per day. To her, this was a low point in her life. She had dreamed of living comfortably with her family and working a career that brought her joy and fulfillment, but that felt impossibly far out of reach.

Mercy in front of uniforms that she printed through her business

But everything changed for Mercy when she was enrolled in the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) and began Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program. KSEIP, launched in 2019 and funded by The World Bank, is a five-year collaboration between Village Enterprise, the Government of Kenya, the Global Development Incubator (GDI), and BOMA. The goal is to support the Government of Kenya as they begin to formally integrate a poverty graduation approach into their existing social protection programs. In doing so, KSEIP has the potential to provide millions of Kenyans with a reliable and sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty.

Mercy standing with Village Enterprise’s KSEIP Program Implementation Manager Isaiah Lekesike (far left), her Village Enterprise Business Mentor Martin Muendo (second to the right), and Jackson Muraguri, County Program Manager with the Global Development Incubator (far right)

Over the past four years, Village Enterprise has been training the government on all aspects of our poverty graduation model—from targeting households and establishing business savings groups to best practices in mentorship, technology, and curriculum development. During this time, the Government of Kenya’s role has primarily focused on observing Village Enterprise and learning-by-doing by participating in implementation activities such as mentoring and training. However, starting in November 2023, the roles will begin to shift—Village Enterprise will transition from directly implementing the program to supporting the Government of Kenya as they put everything they’ve learned into practice and begin implementing the program across the country. By providing ongoing technical assistance, Village Enterprise will continue to ensure that programming remains consistent with industry standards and best practices, and entrepreneurs like Mercy have the best resources they need to thrive.

True to Mercy’s creative personality and innovative thinking, she launched an incredibly unique business through KSEIP. Instead of starting a retail, farming, or livestock business like many first-time business owners in Village Enterprise, Mercy opened her very own printing business. Having originally thought of the idea while working in Nairobi, Mercy never dreamed it would be possible given her situation, but Martin, her Village Enterprise Business Mentor, believed in her and encouraged her to pursue her passion. Using custom screens and ink, Mercy prints designs and official logos on clothes and uniforms for local schools, businesses, and NGOs. And as the only printing business anywhere nearby, she’s thriving.

Mercy’s employee holding one of the shirts they printed for a local primary school (above). A table displaying some of the equipment Mercy uses to print (below).

Using the skills she learned through Village Enterprise and under the guidance of her business mentor, Mercy has been able to set up a value chain transporting supplies all the way from Nairobi to Mbooni. Not only has this made her business as efficient and cost-effective as possible, but it has allowed her to actively make connections with partners and tailors in the region and set the groundwork for her to expand her business as demand grows. With the flurry of exceptional feedback and increased orders from customers, Mercy is excited about what’s next—she dreams of expanding her skillset and one day becoming a designer herself, creating and printing her own designs. With the profits from her business, she’s already been able to purchase a smartphone and plans to set up an online store or social media account for her business. She’s also currently saving up for a sewing machine to take her business to the next level.

But for Mercy, having a thriving business isn’t the only thing that matters to her—she wants to use her success to help others. “When I started my business, the first thing to come into my mind was about others,” said Mercy. “I had a rough journey…so why can’t I involve others to make money like me?”

Having already hired two people from her community, she’s now mentoring them on her printing trade and helping them on their own journeys out of extreme poverty. In her vision for the future, she hopes to eventually employ and mentor dozens of other people through her business.

Mercy with two people from her community that she’s hired and started to mentor through her business

Several of the screens that Mercy and her team use to print designs

“KSEIP stands out as a distinctive program within Kenya,” said Isaiah Lekesike, KSEIP Program Implementation Manager at Village Enterprise. “It presents the country with a valuable opportunity to implement an initiative that has already demonstrated promising outcomes in addressing extreme poverty.” Through KSEIP, Village Enterprise has already trained 3,698 first-time business owners like Mercy who have launched sustainable, climate-smart businesses in their communities, making a real and lasting impact for generations to come.

KSEIP is part of a larger collective action strategy for Village Enterprise. While Village Enterprise provides the industry’s most cost-effective poverty graduation model compared to those independently and rigorously evaluated by a randomized controlled trial (RCT), it is African governments who are best equipped with the infrastructure and systems to significantly and effectively scale poverty graduation programs, helping to reach millions of people and empowering them to end extreme poverty in Africa once and for all. “By partnering with governments, we hold the key to a monumental shift—envisioning an Africa free from poverty, all in the span of a single generation,” said Taddeo Muriuki, Chief Government Relations Officer at Village Enterprise.

The Village Enterprise KSEIP team in Taita Taveta recently celebrating their two-year anniversary working in this community

Mercy has come a long way since having to crush stones into gravel for money. All of her school-aged children are now back in school, her family is eating consistent and nutritious meals, and she feels incredibly proud of the life she’s been able to build in such a short time. As she reflects on her journey, she credits her success in part to her own innate determination to create a better life for her and her children, but especially to her business mentor, Martin, who’s believed in her from the start. “He’s helped me think bigger, to see what’s possible,” said Mercy. With his mentorship and encouragement, and Village Enterprise’s training and support, Mercy’s confident she now has everything she needs to achieve her dreams.

Mercy outside of her printing business

The post Mercy’s Story: How KSEIP Helped Her Dream Again appeared first on Village Enterprise.

In northwestern Uganda, the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement is home to over 120,000 refugees who have fled conflict, environmental disasters, or other significant shocks in their home countries. One of the refugees living in Rhino Camp is Susan, a 40-year-old widow with four children, who also looks after her nephew and grandchild.

During the war in South Sudan, Susan was forced to flee her home in 2018. After making the difficult journey to Rhino Camp in Uganda, she was provided only a single tarp for shelter. Together with her children, she constructed a small grass-thatched house using grass they found and bricks they made themselves. Unfortunately, termites found their way into her home and began eating away at its structure, causing water to leak in whenever it rained. Susan was also provided monthly food rations from the refugee settlement, but quickly discovered it wasn’t enough to sustain her family throughout the entire month. To make their food rations last longer, they began skipping meals—eating only once per day. On top of all of this, Susan’s children were forced to drop out of school when she wasn’t able to afford their school fees.

Susan is one of more than 10 million refugees worldwide who rely on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs—such as food, water, shelter, and basic healthcare. But as aid organizations struggle with budget cuts and a global rise in refugee populations, tangible support has been subject to change or even disappear without a moment’s notice—leaving refugees like Susan without the basic necessities to help them survive, let alone plan for the future.

The refugee crisis has never been more severe during our lifetimes—currently, there are more refugees worldwide than at any point since World War II. With this in mind, DREAMS is on a mission to transform refugee relief as we know it today.

Pictured: Susan at her retail business where she sells clothes and other textiles in her community.

DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) is an innovative, first-of-its-kind program which combines Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program with Mercy Corps’ expertise in market systems development. Where most refugee relief programs only provide short-term humanitarian aid for a long-term problem, DREAMS offers a long-term, sustainable solution by empowering refugees to become economically self-reliant. By equipping refugees with the training, resources, and enhanced markets to launch small businesses in their communities, refugees are able to become entrepreneurs, generating reliable incomes and putting themselves and their families onto a sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty. Ultimately, DREAMS provides refugees a safe place to land where they can get back on their feet, provide for their families in the midst of so much unknown, and start to dream again about their families’ future.

Through DREAMS, Susan learned how to launch a small business as well as the financial literacy skills needed to operate and expand her business into different markets. After working with her DREAMS mentor to select a viable business and get connected with market suppliers, Susan—along with her two business partners from Rhino Camp—used their business grant from Village Enterprise to launch a retail store buying and selling clothes.

Almost one year later, Susan is just a few weeks away from graduating from Village Enterprise and her family’s situation has greatly improved. Using the profits from her retail business, Susan has been able to supplement the settlement’s monthly food rations and provide three consistent, healthy meals a day for her family. She’s also been able to afford school fees for two of her children who are back in school full time, and has plans for her other children to return back to school soon. On top of all of this, she’s been able to construct a new home, with iron sheets for the roof and reinforced doors, providing her family with a safe and stable place to call home.

Pictured: Susan outside of her newly constructed home which she paid for using the profits from her retail business.

“Susan’s story is one of the 200,000 people whose lives will be transformed by DREAMS over the next few years,” says Winnie Auma, Chief Program Officer at Village Enterprise. “To better support refugees, it’s so important to keep the long-term vision in mind and have assistance that goes beyond meeting the immediate needs of refugees and instead helps them get back on their feet and plan for their futures in a dignified and sustainable way.”

As a Fast Company 2023 World Changing Ideas Award winner, DREAMS aims to transform not only refugee relief—it strives to provide a new model for ending extreme poverty in the world’s most challenging environments, supporting millions of people globally in achieving financial autonomy.

DREAMS originally began as a pilot program in Uganda’s Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in 2018, and formally launched operations in northern Uganda in 2022. It will also launch operations in Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado Refugee Settlement in the weeks ahead. Across the two countries, DREAMS will reach more than 33,000 households and will impact more than 200,000 lives—but this is just the beginning. Building off the program’s success, Village Enterprise and Mercy Corps are looking for the funding to expand DREAMS to more regions and countries across Africa.

As Susan looks to the future, she has a renewed sense of hope for her family. She’s excited to expand her retail business with the possibility of opening another branch in a nearby village to diversify her income. She’s even become the chairperson of her business savings group comprised of 30 business owners from her community. Susan not only helps organize their weekly meetings, but she offers guidance and encouragement as they collectively save for household and business assets together.

“I feel very confident and respected by my children and community,” says Susan. “Thank you for helping a hopeless widow have hope again.”

About DREAMS

Funded by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, ICONIQ Impact, IKEA Foundation, Sea Grape Foundation, and The Patchwork Collective, DREAMS won the 2021 Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award for Refugees managed by Lever for Change, and was most recently awarded Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Award for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. DREAMS will also be studied in an independent, randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted by IDinsight, which will provide valuable research to be used across the international development and humanitarian aid sectors to better support refugees in the future.

Learn more about DREAMS

The post Susan’s Story: DREAMS and Hope for the Future appeared first on Village Enterprise.

Two hours north of Kigali, past fields of tea farms and towns cascading down hillsides, is the rural village of Butare nestled in one of the many valleys of Rwanda. Rich with deep red soil and layered with every shade of green, Butare is the home of 87 entrepreneurs in Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program, including Bellancile.

Bellancile, 42, is the mother of six children ranging in age from 18 years to one month. Before joining Village Enterprise, everything in her household—from feeding her family to affording school fees—depended entirely on her husband. But with only one income, they struggled to sustain their growing family’s needs. Bellancile recalls, “When I used to ask my husband for money, it would create conflict.” Their lack of a sufficient income also began forcing the family to skip meals, forgo necessary household items, and begin pulling their children from school as they couldn’t afford school fees.

Bellancile, Pascasie, and Alphonsine holding hands next to their retail business, Twizerane.

But in March of 2022, things started to change for Bellancile and her family when she joined Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program. Throughout several months of business and financial literacy education, Bellancile learned how to start and operate a small business, as well as the power of working alongside others. Together with two women in her community—Alphonsine, 34, and Pascasie, 60—they completed a cost-benefit and market analysis and determined a retail shop had the potential to do well in Butare. Under guidance from their Village Enterprise business mentor, they used their $180 USD business grant to launch their store, Twizerane—a Rwandan word meaning let us trust each other. “For the first time in my life, I started believing that I could do this,” says Bellancile, remembering what it meant to receive their business grant and open their store.

They started off small, only selling a local sorghum soda, but their prime location and in-demand product quickly launched them into popularity within the community. With their steady stream of profits, they began expanding their retail business to sell additional items such as rice, cassava flour, cooking oil, sugar, and other sodas—all things their village uses on a regular basis, but are sometimes difficult to access being so remote. Originally valued at $180 USD, their business is now worth $600, a 233% increase only six months after starting their business.

While some business groups expand into new business ventures together, Bellancile, Alphonsine, and Pascasie are happy keeping their joint venture a retail store. Instead, they’re using the profits from Twizerane to each start their own businesses at the household level, helping to diversify their individual incomes even further. Bellancile recently bought a pig and is excited to begin rearing and selling livestock, alongside Alphonsine and Pascasie who have also done the same.

Bellancile shows off the pig she purchased using the profits from her retail business.

Bellancile graduated from our program last month, and life looks much different for her now. “I used to think that a woman eats because her husband worked, but now I’m the one feeding my family,” states Bellancile proudly. She adds, “Since we’ve started our retail business, we haven’t missed a meal in our house.” Not only are her children eating consistent and healthy meals, but they’re back in school in brand new shoes and uniforms. Through her business savings group, she’s been able to save up enough money to purchase household items such as cups, utensils, and saucepans, but her greatest achievement so far has been renovating her home. Where there once was a dirt floor and walls littered with holes, now exists a smooth, cement floor and sturdy, hole-free walls. Since the renovations, her home has become a great sense of pride to her and her family.

“I used to think that a woman eats because her husband worked, but now I’m the one feeding my family,” states Bellancile proudly.

Bellancile stands outside of her home which she’s renovating using the profits from her businesses.

Apart from the assets she’s been able to purchase, her relationships have also flourished this past year. Now that her husband no longer feels the pressure of providing for his family alone, their relationship has improved substantially. In fact, she says it feels like they’re newlyweds again and she lights up each time he calls her “Honey”—which, according to Bellancile, happens a lot these days. Even Bellancile’s eldest son—having noticed his mother’s growth and success over the past year—has decided that when he graduates from school, he wants to study commerce and be a successful businessperson like her.

Bellancile—a woman who just one year ago had no financial mobility or standing in her community—now sees herself as a mentor and leader with newfound confidence and abilities. And she isn’t alone—in 2018, Innovation for Poverty Action published an independent randomized controlled trial which found that our program leads to increases in mental health, well-being, and sense of economic standing for women.

For Bellancile, it’s important that the knowledge she’s gained through Village Enterprise doesn’t stop with her. “Everything that I’ve learned, I want to share it with someone else,” she says. In fact, Bellancile has big plans for her new household business—she’s already hired three women from her community to help tend to her livestock and crops, and is looking forward to passing on what she’s learned through Village Enterprise so these women can change their lives and break the cycle of extreme poverty for their families, too.

Pascasie, Pascasie’s grandson, Bellancile, and Alphonsine inside of their retail store, proudly holding their business record book.

Our Commitment to Empowering Women

This is what happens when you empower women—you empower entire communities through them. When women are provided opportunities to launch sustainable businesses, save for the future, and take on leadership positions, they’re more likely to invest back into their children and families, helping to break the generational traps of poverty. “This is why addressing gender equality and investing in women is at the core of Village Enterprise’s mission to end extreme poverty,” says Nelly Munge, Village Enterprise Technical Advisor for Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion. “When women like Bellancile are empowered, everyone benefits—children, families, and entire communities.”

Because women in rural communities across Africa are more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change, conflict, global pandemics, and inflation, they are disproportionately affected by extreme poverty. That’s why Village Enterprise is intentional about equipping women with the best resources and skills to thrive in the face of a changing environment and unexpected challenges. In fact, 82% of Village Enterprise entrepreneurs are women. “Even though our program has proven so impactful for women, we’re always looking at how we can improve. That’s why we are continuing to research the barriers that women face,” explains Nelly. “At the end of our program, we don’t want to see women experience any financial limits.”

For Bellancile, this program has changed the trajectory of her life and the lives of her children. The same is true for her business partners, Pascasie and Alphonsine. “Our lives are changed, all three of us,” says Bellancille. Six months into operating their business and already moving to diversify into new revenue streams—in many ways Bellancile is just getting started. “I can see that my future is bright.”

Rulindo district in northern Rwanda—the home of Bellancile, Pascasie, and Alphonsine.

Partnering for Greater Impact

The role women play in ending extreme poverty is critical, but the complex needs of women and girls requires a tailored, collaborative approach. This is why Village Enterprise is partnering with leading organizations, government entities, and funders to empower as many women as possible. While the core of this approach is our cost-effective, data-driven poverty graduation program, we work with partners to address the unique needs of each community by layering additional components into our curriculum; this can include education on regionally-specific agricultural practices for communities dealing with shifting weather patterns, cash transfers to help with food consumption and medical care for communities affected by chronic rates of acute child malnutrition, menstrual health education designed to eliminate menstrual taboos and stigmas, and more.

To learn more about how we’re partnering to empower women, check out our Five-Year Report.

The post Bellancile’s Story: Women Leading Change appeared first on Village Enterprise.

If you would like to learn more about all that was accomplished, as well as a look at the past five years, check out our recently published Five-Year Report.

Village Enterprise’s Top 10 Highlights from 2022

Transformed Over 205,000 Lives

We’re proud to report that 2022 saw our biggest impact to date—we trained 34,300 first-time entrepreneurs and launched 11,430 businesses, helping to transform the lives of over 205,000 women, men, and children and putting them on a sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty.

Built Resilience and Created Long-Term Impact

Our Five-Year Longitudinal Study found that both household consumption and savings continued to increase for our entrepreneurs after the end of our program. In fact, we saw an 83% increase in consumption and a 933% increase in savings over five years, and 88% of the entrepreneurs reported the skills they learned helped them cope with the economic shocks of Covid-19. These results point to our entrepreneurs’ increased ability to adapt to crises and global shocks upon graduating from our program. 

Demonstrated the Power of Results-Based Funding

The Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond (DIB) exceeded its targets, sustainably improving the livelihoods of 95,000 women, men, and children and generating $5 of new income for every dollar invested.  The very first-of-its-kind for poverty alleviation in Africa, the DIB was studied in an randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted by IDinsight that showcased cost-effective, sustained impact in income and asset increases for over 14,000 households, and IDinsight projected an increase in lifetime household income of over $21 million. 

Drove Climate Resilience and Empowered Female Farmers

Funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, and in partnership with UN Women and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Village Enterprise continued working on the Women Economic Empowerment through Climate-Smart Agriculture Project in West Pokot, Kenya. This project—which layers our program with additional education around climate-smart agriculture—equips entrepreneurs (80% female) with the tools and resources to launch climate-smart agribusinesses. By learning techniques to improve agricultural outputs in a changing farming environment, our entrepreneurs, such as Selina, are becoming more resilient to the effects of climate change.  

Protected the Environment and Endangered Species

In the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Congo-Brazzaville and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Village Enterprise and the Wildlife Conservation Society teamed up to end extreme poverty and protect our planet. By equipping those living in extreme poverty near protected areas with the tools and resources to start sustainable businesses, our program reduced poaching and protected endangered wildlife—such as gorillas and okapis—by creating alternative ways to generate income which don’t rely on harming protected species or areas. 

Combatted Acute Child Malnutrition

In partnership with Catholic Relief Services and funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Nawiri aimed to reduce the chronic rates of acute child malnutrition in northern Kenya in 2022. By layering our poverty graduation model with education on health, nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as providing mobile cash transfers for participants to purchase immediate medical care and nutrient-dense food, Nawiri is addressing the underlying issues driving acute child malnutrition and providing sustainable pathways out of extreme poverty. In early 2022, after seeing positive results in the early stages of implementation, USAID committed to significantly scaling up the program. By September 30, 2023, Nawiri will have reached 14,310 households, impacting 85,860 women, children, and men in northern Kenya.

Partnered with African Governments to Scale Our Impact  

In Kenya, we worked alongside the national government to enhance their social protection program and build the capacity of government officials to create a stronger social safety net for the future as part of the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP). Additionally, in Rwanda, we began co-designing a poverty graduation and climate resilience outcomes project with the government which will transform at least 360,000 lives in the first three years. The project will then be iterated, replicated, and scaled by the government with the goal of ending extreme poverty in Rwanda by 2030.

Launched DREAMS for Refugees

In partnership with Mercy Corps, we officially launched DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) in Uganda. A winner of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award for Refugees and funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the IKEA Foundation, this first-of-its-kind model merges Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program with Mercy Corps’ expertise in market systems development to equip refugees with the skills, resources, and markets to start sustainable businesses and graduate from extreme poverty. As DREAMS  launched in Uganda in 2022, design workshops were held in Ethiopia as the program is preparing to launch there soon. DREAMS will collectively reach more than 33,000 households and impact more than 200,000 lives across the two countries.

Integrated Innovative Digital Technologies to Increase Impact

As we continue to grow our program, it is crucial that we invest in digital solutions to ensure our entrepreneurs accelerate their business success, while at the same time increasing scale and impact. That’s why we partnered with DreamStart Labs in 2022 to pilot the DreamSave app, which allows our entrepreneurs to digitally track their savings group records using their mobile phones. In addition, we expanded our use of battery-powered projectors during business training sessions in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda, using videos to compliment in-person instruction and improve retention and engagement within our training content. We’ve also continued to expand our use of phone mentoring to better serve our entrepreneurs. Village Enterprise Business Mentors are using a blended approach of in-person meetings and phone mentoring sessions to allow for more personalized touch points with entrepreneurs and reducing the amount of time our mentors spend traveling between villages. 

Invested in and Grew Our World-Class African Team 

We saw many programmatic achievements in 2022, but our team was at the core of everything we did. By putting our values of ubuntu, passion, integrity, innovation, and sustainability at the forefront of all that we do, we have continued to invest in and expand our world-class team which has now grown to 440 global team members. As we’ve tripled in size over the past five years, we continue to ensure our programs are locally-led—97% of our team is African.

Thank you for making all of this and more possible in 2022! For a deeper dive into all that we accomplished, as well as a look at the past five years, check out our recently published Five-Year Report. We’re grateful for your continued support, and we look forward to going even further together in 2023.

The post Ten of Our Greatest Achievements from 2022 appeared first on Village Enterprise.

As the wind sweeps its way across the drylands of northern Kenya, there’s a momentary reprieve from the oppressive heat, but quickly it returns and brings with it the reality of the ongoing drought. While dry seasons come and go for communities in East Africa, this time it’s different. Climate change has escalated the situation into the worst drought in four decades, bringing devastating effects to the entire region. A lack of seasonal rainfall—year after year—means significant crop failure, the death of livestock, and the depletion of all household reserves.

Without crops and livestock, many families in the region are no longer able to earn a sufficient income, which has exacerbated conflict as communities fight over the dwindling resources. To complicate matters, northern Kenya has long been vulnerable to food insecurity and rising inflation continues to make the situation dire. As a result of all of these external challenges, more and more children—like Miriamu’s grandson—are becoming acutely malnourished. 

To combat acute child malnutrition in northern Kenya, Village Enterprise has partnered with Catholic Relief Services, the Isiolo and Marsabit county governments, and other local partners and agencies to implement USAID Nawiri (Nawiri is a Swahili word meaning to thrive). Funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, USAID Nawiri launched in 2019 and is a resilience food security activity in Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, and Turkana counties. The primary goal of the project is to sustainably reduce the persistent rates of acute child malnutrition in these counties by increasing the consumption of—and access to—safe foods which meet daily nutrient requirements. It also aims to address some of the underlying, systemic issues which have led to the high rates of acute child malnutrition in the first place, such as food and market systems, health and nutrition systems, limited livelihood diversification, and challenging gender and social norms.

To achieve these objectives, Village Enterprise has taken our poverty graduation model and layered it with education on health, nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene. Additionally, on top of receiving business training, mentorship, access to savings groups, and grants to launch sustainable businesses, USAID Nawiri participants also receive cash transfers to purchase nutrient-dense food, medical care, and household items. These transfers enable participants to meet their immediate needs without having to interfere with the cash flow of their newly established businesses.

After seeing positive results in the early stages of implementation, USAID committed to significantly scaling up the program earlier this year. With 129 current Village Enterprise staff, 53 part-time enumerators, and an increased goal to reach 14,310 households, this intervention will impact the lives of 85,860 women, children, and men by September 30, 2023—making it one of Village Enterprise’s largest projects to date.

“USAID Kenya sees the adapted poverty graduation approach as an anchor activity for USAID Nawiri,” comments Emily Mkungo, Project Management Specialist for USAID Kenya. “Through the graduation model we are targeting the ultra poor and households with malnourished individuals, and moving them up the ladder to self-reliance. And within the same model layering interventions in health, behavior change, water, sanitation, and hygiene among others aimed at reducing persistent acute malnutrition around the same community. I look forward to the impact this model will have on the planned target of 85,860 people in the coming two years.”

Most notably, 1,949 out of the 2,051 entrepreneurs (95%) who began our program this fiscal year are women, such as Miriamu. Prior to joining USAID Nawiri, Miriamu’s husband was killed by bandits, leaving her the sole caregiver for her seven children. One by one, she began selling her livestock to provide for her family as she had no other means for generating income. Soon there were no animals left to sell and the family struggled to meet their daily needs—often skipping meals and foregoing necessary medical care because they simply could not afford it.

This all changed when she joined USAID Nawiri. Through training and mentorship from Village Enterprise, Miriamu not only learned how to start and operate a business, but how to ensure it remains sustainable and resilient despite the environmental or economic challenges she may face. While she was getting her retail business off the ground, the cash transfers provided her family with the necessary means to purchase nutrient-dense food and medical care, especially for her grandson whose health required immediate attention at the start of the program.

And as her business grew, so did her confidence. “Nawiri has given me and other women dignity,” Miriamu says. “Even women can support and provide for their families if economically empowered.” And that’s exactly what she did. Because of her determination and dedication to change the future for her family, she has been able to use the profits from her business to pay for school fees, cover additional medical expenses when her children get sick, purchase clothes, and build food reserves for her family—all of which were impossible beforehand.

For Miriamu and thousands of other families like hers, USAID Nawiri exists as an alternative to traditional humanitarian relief—instead of only responding to acute child malnutrition through emergency aid, Village Enterprise and Catholic Relief Services are equipping communities with the means to build sustainable livelihoods full of dignity and hope. As Miriamu reflects on her journey with USAID Nawiri, she remarks how meaningful this experience has been. “My family’s future is secure,” she says. Not only is Miriamu’s business generating consistent income, but her grandson has been medically cleared as healthy, no longer considered malnourished or requiring special treatment.

Miriamu has also joined a local business savings group, meeting weekly with other entrepreneurs and putting away money for emergencies or specific business purposes. By working hard over three months to meet her targets, Miriamu saved enough money to buy a goat—the first animal she’s owned since having to sell all of her late husband’s livestock. This goat will serve as a way to expand into a new business market and diversify her income, but most importantly it’s a significant milestone and source of pride for her. She has lovingly named her goat Nawiri.

All featured photos were taken by Village Enterprise business mentors.

The post Alleviating Child Malnutrition, One Business at a Time appeared first on Village Enterprise.

We’re proud to report that the study showed overwhelmingly positive results, and a sustained and often increasing impact for our entrepreneurs and their families. In fact, both household consumption and savings continued to rise after the end of our program with an 83% increase in consumption and a 933% increase in savings over five years. You can read the full report here.

“We’re thrilled to share our new longitudinal study results, which show sustained or improved results for the households we serve five years after participating in the Village Enterprise graduation program,” says Celeste Brubaker, Chief Impact Officer at Village Enterprise. “These findings are complemented by our recent external RCT results, which found no evidence of declining program impact over time. Results from both studies are especially remarkable given that final data collection for both took place in 2021 when millions of households in Africa were being pushed back into poverty due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The data builds a compelling case that Village Enterprise graduates first-time entrepreneurs into a state of resilience.”

Building resilience is extremely important in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the negative impacts of climate change, inflation, and the pandemic all have the potential to be catastrophic for families living in extreme poverty. The results from the longitudinal study provide more strong evidence that our program equipped entrepreneurs with the skills they needed to adapt to the negative economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, suggesting their ability to adapt to future crises, or global and local shocks. Of note, 88% of the entrepreneurs in this study also reported the skills they learned through Village Enterprise helped them cope with the economic shocks of Covid-19. 

The longitudinal study results are especially meaningful as they build on the results from the Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond. Independently evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) by IDinsight, our program achieved a projected lifetime benefit-cost ratio of 540%. In other words, for every $1 invested in the communities, over $5 of new income is generated by our entrepreneurs. The social benefits far exceed what it cost Village Enterprise to implement the program, including training entrepreneurs, awarding seed capital grants, and providing ongoing business mentoring and support during the first year. This showcases the immense power of our graduation program to sustainably and cost-effectively increase the income of our entrepreneurs, putting them on a sustainable path out of extreme poverty. Just like our longitudinal study, the RCT results were achieved despite the onset of the pandemic and the subsequent market closures and country-wide lockdowns.

On top of these achievements, we have made significant improvements to our program since 2017. These improvements include the implementation of a powerful adaptive management system, a streamlined and more interactive training curriculum, and the use of digital technologies—such as videos and mobile cash transfers—to maximize our efficiency and overall impact. Since these improvements were implemented after entrepreneurs in the longitudinal study graduated from our program, we hope to see even greater results for our entrepreneurs in future studies.

To further magnify our impact in the years to come, we plan to continue testing the latest technologies and methods for training, coaching, and evaluating. Most importantly, we will continue to keep our entrepreneurs at the forefront of everything we do. In an era of increased global shocks from Covid-19, conflict, and climate change, it is imperative we make sure the most vulnerable families have access to our program, equipping them with the skills and resources to adapt and thrive. To learn more about the Village Enterprise longitudinal study, read the full report using the link below. 

“In addition to confirming the persistent and often growing impact of our program in the communities we serve, the report contains important insights on outcomes for different population segments and the mediating influencers of impact,” Celeste says. “This is a fantastic read for anyone interested in learning more about fostering entrepreneurship and resilience among women living in extreme poverty in rural Africa.”

Read the full report here.

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