Child Education and Community Development Initiative (CECDI): Support Cooperatives and Small Business in 4 LGAs of Nasarawa State Year 2022

Period covering this report: February to March  2022 

• This report must be completed by Child Education and Community Development Initiative (CECDI) accepted by UNDP
• Child Education and Community Development Initiative (CECDI) must attach any relevant evidence to support the report. 
• The information provided below must correspond to the information that appears in the financial report
• Attach the accepted grant proposal to this report

Performance:

1. Workplan Performance (cumulative, including the current period)

COMPLETED ACTIVITIES	Timeline2				Planned Budget for the Activity (in grant currency)3	Funds Delivered for the Activity(in grant currency)
	T1	T2	T3	T4
1.1 Activity: Conduct community Sensitization. Advocacy, Trainings		X			36,000	36,000
1.4 Activity:  Transportation		X			5,500	5,500
1.5 Activity: Premises		x			2,200	2,197.99
Contracts			X		16,800	16,799.98
Business and financial support, bank opening			X		25,000	24,954.06
1.6 Activity:  Grants to start ups		X			38,500	38,495.02
1.7 Activity:  Other (Project Management and Admin cost)		X			4,000	4,000
1.8 Activity:  Personnel		X			12,000	12,000
Total					140,000.00	139,947.05

2. Performance Targets 

INDICATOR(S)	Data Source	Baseline	Reporting Period Milestone/Target	Reporting Period Actual Performance Against the Target
1.1Need Assessment	100%	100%	100%	124%
1.2Advocacy visit	100%	100%	100%	100%
1.3 community sensitization	100%	100%	100%	100%
1.4 Trainings conducted on business entrepreneurship	100%	100%	100%	100%
1.5 Cash Transfer	0%	0%	0%	106%

Data reached during the reporting period of activities conducted 

S/NO	Activities	Doma	Lafia	Nasarawa Eggon	Nasarawa	Total	Target	%
1	Advocacy conducted	22	26	34	35	117	117	100%
2	Need Assessment from the based base line	182	281	276	254	993	800	124%
3	Community sensitization and awareness creation	212	311	298	202	1,023	10,23	100%
4	Training Conducted	209	223	233	205	870	800	109%
5	Cash Transfer to support business	191	239	207	209	846	800	106%

3. Challenges and Lessons Learned:

Challenges 

• Lack of sufficient time to meet up with the expectation of the program 
• The Inability of beneficiaries to settle down with the business and penetrate the market to ensure successes.  

Lessons learned 

• The key lessons learnt was business that were not formalized got formalized with relevant government agencies, some still in the process of formalization, some without bank account got their business account opened and better means of business operations were adopted with good record keeping and strategies for business growth and development.

Narrative report for the period of which the program is conducted

The Project was aimed at conflict affected areas, post conflict resettlement and economic rejuvenation, returning normalcy of people displaced from crises bedeviled communities at selected communities within four Local Government Areas (LGA) of Nasarawa State, which were selected for implementation within Nasarawa State, they include, Lafia, Doma, Nasarawa Eggon and Nasarawa respectively with activities commencing  with an advocacy and stakeholders engagement meetings in the 4 LGAs, involving but not limited to the traditional council, Local Government Authority, Market women, Civil Society, trader’s association, different business groups, to mentioned but a few. After the stakeholders engagement meetings, it was followed by the sensitization campaign to create awareness of the program, intimate the intending beneficiaries of the scheduled training date for business development, business plan writings and possible skills acquisition for the intending beneficiaries who will be selected at the end of the training, the training was concluded with a round of screening and documentation of the intending beneficiaries across the four LGA of the state, this was done based on those who met the criteria of selections at each LGA of the implemented programs. Payments were done to various, women and cooperatives who were selected through the bank transfer for the conditional cash transfer with preference to women, vulnerable women, less privileged women, widows and cooperatives who are involved in nano, micro and small businesses in the respective implementing LGA of the state, the local media were represented at each of the locations to cover the events and ensure all the necessary stakeholders were involved and carried along. The cash transfer was done and all mechanism for monitoring and evaluation were deployed to ensure that the beneficiaries in each L.G.A of the implementations execute or expand their existing businesses for the purpose of poverty eradication, income generation and creation of means of livelihood for the populace who were direct beneficiaries in the first phase of the empowerment. The feedback gotten was positive in most of the LGA of the state as the training of the business plan writing and business development were helpful to them, to reposition their businesses for better profiting and productivity. The beneficiaries expressed gratitude for such timely intervention as some of them are so impoverished, struggling to feed and some survive from hand to mouth daily, they requested if such intervention will steadily be given to them to uplift them from poverty, such was a sign that if the program is continuous poverty will be eradicated in the best possible way, as training followed by seed capital is a sign of engaging people in wealth creation for economic growth. 

The second phase of the training was done at selected communities within the aforementioned LGAs with a same technique of sensitization/ awareness creation, training on business plan writing and disbursement of cash to the selected beneficiaries at each of the communities, the cash disbursement was done directly to the beneficiaries with the traditional ruler presenting the financial support to them, while they sign and submit passport for documentation, to ensure eradication of poverty, the program was concluded with distribution of equipment to support those who participated at the skills acquisitions gets machines, tools and implements to foster the growth of their businesses and expansion of their respective skills.

Human Interest Story

The yawning for the intervention program was large, unfortunately human needs don’t usually match up with available resources, as the funds was limited to reach only a few individuals who got selected based on the criteria set for the selections, the funds and equipment given to some was expected to assist them in the best possible way and serve as seeds for growth in whatever endeavor they find themselves doing. From the assessments in all the implementing Local Governments, it was obvious that they aborigines are suffering not just from poverty, lack access to various social amenities, from good sources of water, electricity, schools, road networks etc to mentioned but a few, if such interventions will be sustained and done bi-annual, annual, or quarterly, gradually poverty will be reduced, lives will be transformed, normalcy will be returned and better economic growth will be seen at different rural communities of the respective LGAs.

Stories 

Aminatu Zakari is a widow from Azuba community of Lafia LGA, she lost her husband during crises and came to settle in Azuba Community, she has four children. She was running a business before they came to Azuba, at Azuba things were not well with them as the little she got goes to their feeding as she is the only person providing for the family, at times getting food to eat becomes an issue and she has to take the akamu she makes and prepares for herself and her family.

She was enrolled into CECDI/UNDP/JAPAN intervention program which aimed at bettering the lives of the vulnerable and she confessed that it was life changing, she used the cash transfer to her to start up a business of buying guinea corn at 300 per measure and makes ground it to make PAP for sell and  gain of 400 as a gain, thus making 4000-4500 monthly, she does weekly contribution of 1000 Naira which also help her to support the family. 

She is appreciative to CECDI and UNDP for the intervention, she said life has been hard for a while but now things are different and she can take care of her children by providing them food as at when due. She added that one aspect she appreciates in the program is the training to her if one sick to it he/she will exile in life. 

Aminatu Zakari

Fatima Nuhu a beneficiary of cash support she sells firewood which she started with half Peugeot at the rate of 12,000 and other expenditure is 5000 which make the total of 17,000 at the end of the sell she make profit of 2000 but now she buy a full pickup at time she buy two pickup and have profit increase to 6000-7000 naira. Fatima have five children but only three of them are attending school due to financial hardship but with help of the business she is doing the other two of children are now back to school. Thanks to CECDI and UNDP 

Baseline Community Need Assessment 

Mary Usman selling dry fish                                             KandeSule(Local Weaving)

ATTACHEMENT OF PICTURES OF ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED 

Nasarawa LGA Advocacy Visit with the LGA Speaker and the LGA cabinet during the advocacy   

   Group photo during the Nasarawa LGA Advocacy with the LGA Stakeholders 

           Advocacy visit to Yalwa community in Doma LGA

Nasarawa LGA Community sensitization pictures at Laminga and Tammah

Nasarawa LGA beneficiaries Training Pictures 

Doma LGA Advocacy Visit to LGA Stakeholders and traditional institutions 

Visit to LGA Stakeholders                      Visit to traditional institution Doam LGA 

Doma community sensitization 

Doma LGA Community Sensitization 

Doma Beneficiaries Training 

Lafia Program Activities Advocacy Visit 

LafiaLGAcommunity and stakeholders sensitization 

Lafia Training 

Nasarawa Eggon LGA Advocacy Visit to the LGA Deputy Chairman 

Nasarawa Eggon LGA town hall community sensitization

Nasarawa EggonLGA beneficiaries Training 

  Vocational skills start-up kits support to Hadiza Yarima and Atari Yrima Anbashi 

              Justina and Sarah Achuku beneficiaries of startup-Kits 

Community cash support for women to access small scale business in Randa Sarki Community 

The Monitoring and Evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation team started their work with assessment of the intending beneficiaries cum beneficiaries at the four respective Local Government Areas of the project implementation, this was done to ascertain the living condition of the beneficiaries, which was followed by selection of the beneficiaries, after the training and disbursements of the conditional cash transfer and equipment, the team followed up to ensure the beneficiaries expand or implement the businesses or business ideas which was set for the funds received, the responses were positive at the four LGAs but some were negative as they couldn’t be traced to see what they were doing with the funds received to help them sustain living through involvement in businesses. The positive feedbacks from the beneficiaries were good, this is a sign poverty is eradicated gradually with more intervention coming if possible.

 Monitoring of beneficiaries that benefited

JOSEPH REBECCA  SELLS ALIBO    JUMMAI BULUS PALM OIL

OSHIGELA MULTI-PURPOSE  COOPERATIVE SOCIETY IS INTO POULTRY AND SELLING OF FEEDS

\

PHOTO OF HASKE MULTI-PURPOSE            JUMMAI MAMMAN

COOPERATIVE SOCIETY

KANDE SULE PROCESSING OF LOCAL RICE AND RECORD KEEKPING

Sarah in her business place                       Ladi in her business place 

Financial Reporting:*Note: Financial reporting can be in local currency but cannot exceed the grant value in USD. 

Financial Reporting:*Note: Financial reporting can be in local currency but cannot exceed the grant value in USD.

General Category of Expenditures	Budgeted Amount	Actual Expense
Personnel	4,962,720.00	4,962,720.00
Transportation	2,274,580.00	2,274,580.00
Premises	909,832.00	909,000.00
Training, Workshops, etc.	14,888,160.00	14,888,160.00
Contracts (e.g., Analysis)	6,947,808.00	6,947,800.00
Equipment/Furniture (Specify)	10,339,000.00	10,320,000
Grants to start ups	15,922,060.00	15,920,000.00
Miscellaneous	1,654,240.00	1,654,240.00
TOTAL	57,898,400.00	57,876,500.00