People

Umoyo natural health shop in Zambia
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World Health Day: How local business can keep a community healthy

On this World Health Day, I was wondering about what to get for lunch. The Scottish classic of square sausage in a roll or something a bit healthier. The daily dilemma.  Luckily for my health, I was inspired to go for the healthier option (and to go outside) after reviewing some of the Enterprise Recommendations presentations from our Challenges Worldwide ICS volunteers aka our Business Support Associates (BSAs) in Zambia.

 

Hi, I’m Lewis and I am one of the Portfolio Analysts at Challenges Worldwide and my main role is crunching the numbers that our BSAs produce during their placement. We then use these numbers to inform our strategy for Enterprise and Value Chain Development. This data is invaluable as our approach is unique in that we critically evaluate enterprises from within instead of surveying owners once and hoping the right information is given.

Umoyo Natural Health is one of the enterprises we are currently working with and specialises in providing natural health products; medicinal products, foods, supplements and cosmetics.

How does this relate to world health day?

Prevention is the best policy when it comes illness

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, so the saying goes. In 2016, close to half of the children under 5 were stunted (low-height-for-age) as a result of malnutrition with another negative impact being a decrease in academic performance.

How does enterprise development impact health?

Well, it’s about the long-term, we want a solution, not a plaster. There are 3 ways in which enterprise development will reduce malnutrition:

Increasing Distribution: By providing technical assistance the enterprises we work with will be in a position to approach investors, confident in the knowledge that they meet investment criteria beforehand. By expanding their business, Umoyo will be able to increase the number of people they can provide their health goods to.

Reduction in Price: As the enterprise grows, it will be able to benefit from economies of scale as the unit cost is reduced (the first car wasn’t cheap!) and consequently becomes a realistic option for people on lower incomes.

Increase Incomes and Demand: Umoyo has over 35 (19 female) employees and over 140 suppliers. As the business grows, enterprises must take on more staff, their demand for inputs from suppliers increase and they may need to find new suppliers. When you consider the women between 45 and 49 were surveyed their ‘completed family size’ was on average 6. Ultimately, it will be those in the household of employees that will benefit.

This is by no means a silver bullet (health warning for werewolves) and educated assumptions are always made, please see here, here and here. However, at the end of the day, if a parent’s income increases I’d bet it’s more than likely they will spend it on improving their children’s welfare. Why don’t you join us to implement lasting solutions?…and have a healthy dinner while you’re at it!

You can join us in supporting enterprises such as Umoyo by taking part in the Uk Government funded Challenges Worldwide ICS programme for 18 -25 year olds from the UK, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia.

Complete your online application today and help businesses like Umoyo reach their potential for delivering positive social and environmental impact on the communities in which they trade.

Lewis Meechan

Written by Lewis Meechan,

Challenges Worldwide Portfolio Analyst

 

 

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Empower women, change the world! 

Inequalities exist all around the world and gender isn’t an exception to this reality. Women represent half the world’s population and yet account for 70% of the world’s poor. To make matters worse, women contribute approximately 70% of working hours in the world but only earn 10% of the world’s income. Hence, women in many countries face inequalities throughout their whole lives, from when they are born until the time they die.

From an early age, millions of women face gender-based stereotypes that discriminate them from having access to education. As well as not having access to education often young women are conditioned to see their only aspiration in life is to get married and have children. In the eyes of many societies around the world, having a well-kept home, a happy husband and producing offspring is the only worthy indicator of a successful woman.

Those who are able to overcome the first hurdle of accessing an education then grow up to face limited job or promotion opportunities. Often the job opportunities that are afforded are limited to domestic activities and service roles. Many women find themselves with little or no power to make decisions in their work and home and many others have to defend themselves from sexual harassment and gender-based violence, from which millions of women die every year.

In Africa, these realities occur every day and, although this has been recognised as a problem to be solved by most African governments, the transition has been much slower here than in other regions of the world. However, empowering women and girls is a key factor for economic development. Healthy and educated girls, with an equal access to opportunities, can help their families to get out of poverty, become leaders in their communities and make significant changes, like Wangari Maathai or Kaya Thomas have done.

What can we do to empower women to change the world?

The first step is to be informed; running away from the information won’t make gender injustice around the world less of a reality. As Minna Salami says, “it takes individual consciousness to create collective awareness”.

“it takes individual consciousness to create collective awareness”.

The second step is empowerment: working together to give women the real opportunity of making their own choices, especially the most vulnerable ones. But, how can this reality be changed? It isn’t easy peasy. Still, there are many people working for gender equality around the world. Here we’ll share some African enterprises that are encouraging examples of this:

Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment (F.R.E.E)

F.R.E.E. is a social enterprise that works to reverse marginalisation of women in Zambia by providing them with opportunities that go from making jewellery to reducing illiteracy levels. It helps women, mainly single mothers and those who are in a vulnerable situation, to have a dignified source of income.

Ng’ombe Jewellery Project, for example, is one of their projects and is based in the Ng’ombe community. The idea is to teach woman how to make jewellery, from bracelets to necklaces, by using recycled cooper (which have generated many political, economic and social issues in the country), as well as semi-precious Zambian stones. As the cherry on top, each of these pieces is packed in a small chitenge bag, which are sewn by Vida and her sisters, who are disabled but talented women in the Ng’ombe community.

 

Ele Agbe

Is a skin care business that doesn’t only sell beauty products but builds opportunities for women in Ghana. In this sense, Ele Agbe is empowering women in rural areas to gain a sustainable livelihood by producing quality products for both the local and international market. This venture started making jewellery from recycled glass and then moved to shea butter products, thanks to the vision of their inspirational founder and CEO Comfort Adjahoe. But why attempt to tell the story if Comfort can do it better.

At the end of 2016, Challenges helped El Agbe to link with UK based cosmetics startup Poa Poa who are now distributing El Agbe Shea Butter in the UK.

Kampala Fair

Another women-led enterprise based in Uganda that, contrary to the previous ones, isn’t mainly focused on empowering women but on creating jobs for young people. Decent work opportunities, not charity, as we’ve seen through all these examples, is a more powerful way to provide employment and dignified ways of income. Kampala Fair began with sewing lessons in Mette Islandi, who then teamed up with Louise Graymore from the UK and created Kampala Fair together.

Nowadays, Kampala Fair is a sustainable, profitable and fair trade business that sell their products for local and international markets. Everything in this clothing business is locally made, from the vibrant fabrics to the designers and tailors. We invite you to visit the web page, learn more from them and get lost among the beautiful designs.

https://www.kampalafair.com/

Empower Women who code

Last October Challenges Worldwide volunteer and soon to be Team Leader Rosie Coleman spent a Friday evening with the Kumasi, Ghana chapter of women who code to lead a workshop on “excelling your career.”

The most interesting thing for me was to witness the similarities between the women here in Kumasi and those I’ve met back home in London during similar tech career workshops. The Kumasi women had the same fears and concerns about interviews and our feedback session focused largely on the same issues with self-confidence and belief in their own awesomeness.

Read Rosie’s blog about the evening.

Not only in the global South but also here in the UK

Here the gender inequalities aren’t as big as in other countries, however, we aren’t absent of this reality. One of the main issues is the “missing middle” in organisations. What does this mean? Even though at junior management levels both genders are equally represented, male managers are 40% more likely to be promoted to higher roles. This is the number one cause of the 23% gender pay gap.

This reality can be changed, but we all need to get involved. Learn more about the #missingmiddle campaign being run by the Chartered Management Institute and take action.

You can always be part of bigger changes!

You can join Challenges Worldwide by taking part of the International Citizen Service volunteer programme and help any of these enterprises to keep on empowering women or you can do your own bit to fill in the missing middle and join the Chartered Management Institute at an exclusive discounted rate for Challenges learners.

By joining many small efforts, challenges can be overcome and great changes can be achieved. Be part of this movement!

Take the chance and travel to Africa with us. Apply now!

Gorgeous African Black Girl Studying Working With Tablet Computer Technology
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Redefining “In an African Fashion”

In light of London and Paris Fashion Weeks, Challenges have been celebrating the fashion enterprises we have supported across Sub-Saharan Africa and the innovation of our volunteers in this sector.  

African fashion and textile businesses are important!

A history of imitation brands within the Sub-Saharan African fashion industry, particularly in Zambia, has resulted in a gap in the market for local fashion talent and designers. Across the Sub-Saharan region, international aid has created patterns of dependency, and the provision of clothes from international donations has stunted the development of locally manufactured goods.

Read Handouts not so handy? by Challenges Worldwide ICS volunteer Secret Adams

As part of plans to tackle the dependency cycle in Zambia, laws have been introduced to prevent the importation of textiles, encouraging instead the expansion of the local industry. As more young enterprises enter the African fashion industry and increase their outreach to a global audience, the added competition will drive new brands and local fashion talent. Dressmaking skills are in high demand and are an easy way of making a profit. Reaching into the global market could stop the pattern of imitation and boost the local economy.

At Challenges Worldwide, we recognise that sustainable economic growth needs to be achieved through the support of local products, and have been working with African fashion enterprises across Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda.

Read more about the role fashion businesses can play within International Development. 

Enterprises

Atto Tetteh – Accra, Ghana

Atto Tetteh is a Ghana-based fashion company revolutionising the African menswear scene. The founder and Creative Director of the company, George Tetteh, aims to compete in the global menswear market with their high-quality clothing designs that have been inspired by local African culture.

attotetteh.com 

 

Liberty Powers Footwear – Accra, Ghana

Liberty Powers Footwear is a Ghanaian company, specialising in the production of hand-made leather shoes, and dedicated to increasing specialist skills for young people. Amos Osomi, the business owner of Liberty Powers, has created an apprenticeship scheme to train local youth in shoe production to increase their employment opportunities.

 

Kente Master – Kumasi, Ghana

Kente Master is a fabric artisan company committed to promoting African culture, entrepreneurship, and economic self-empowerment. We do this by servicing and providing a unique inventory of premium Kente graduation stoles. With Kente Master, you’ll receive authenticity, customizability and choice that can’t be found anywhere else.

http://kentemaster.com/Buqisi-Ruux – Kampala, Uganda

Buqisi-Ruux, meaning ‘Queen of the Village’, is a women’s footwear enterprise based in Kampala, Uganda. The company, founded and run by women, consider their African inspired shoe designs as “wearable art”, and aim to promote African culture and women’s empowerment through their work.

http://buqisi-ruux.com/shop/

 

Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment (FREE) – Lusaka, Zambia

The Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment (FREE) is an artisan business established to provide economic empowerment to women and to tackle gender inequality. The enterprise works with young women living in poverty, training them with artisan skills, such as copper jewellery production. Providing young women with a skill can help them gain the financial independence to better their own lives.

Read “I am a F.R.E.E Woman by Nifemi

ZUVAA – A U.S based digital marketplace for African inspired fashion.

The Zuvaa Marketplace is a premier online destination to find unique and one of kind African Inspired pieces. Zuvaa works directly with emerging designers around the world to bring you the best selection of high quality, one of kind African Inspired pieces the industry has to offer.

At Zuvaa, We’re Shining A Light On African Fashion. The Zuvaa Marketplace Is A Premier Online Destination To Find Unique And One Of Kind African Inspired Pieces. We Work Directly With Emerging Designers Around The World To Bring You The Best Selection Of High Quality, One Of Kind African Inspired Pieces The Industry Has To Offer.

Shine Bright Through African Fashion – https://zuvaa.com/

 

Fashion businesses set up by Challenges Worldwide Alumni

The KingzmenGh- Accra, Ghana

The KinzmenGh is a sunglasses business that has been created by one of our innovative return volunteers, Abel Ofoe-Osabutey. Driven to make a difference by his younger sister’s sight problems, Abel has built a Bamboo Eyewear Business to help prevent blindness. Abel’s experience with Challenges Worldwide connected him to those with relevant design expertise to support him in his entrepreneurial endeavours.

Jack Fellows: The Social Mercenary

Return volunteer, Jack Fellows, has founded The Social Mercenary since finishing his Challenges Worldwide ICS placement in Ghana. Now working in Hong Kong, Jack’s platform provides entrepreneurs from the developing world the opportunity to market their products to a global audience.

In the long term, Jack hopes to invest in the businesses promoted through Social Mercenary to further their successes.

‘Challenges Worldwide give you a great deal of responsibility during your placement and so not only did I develop skills in market research, I also gained a great understanding of the operating procedures and the financial recording requirements that are vital to a business. Finally, and probably most importantly, the placement gave me confidence in my own ability’.

Read more and get involved by visiting thesocialmercenary.com

Nifemi Oyebanji – Lagos Fashion Week

Following her Challenges Worldwide ICS placement in Zambia, Nifemi Oyebanji, has gone on to set up the Lagos Fashion Festival in Nigeria. Motivated by the vision to bring together young people and professionals within the fashion industry, Nifemi helps connect people from across the industry to showcase their work. Through workshops, talks and large scale fashion events, Nifemi is redefining a sense of pride in ‘Made in Nigeria’ apparel and encouraging young people to consider career routes into the sector. A percentage of ticket sales from Lagos Fashion Week also goes towards supporting mental health programmes in Nigeria.

‘I would say that 80% of my knowledge of business is from my placement and I am still using it all now.’

Fashionable Fundraising

 Ugandan themed tote bags by Anna Eaton

I started by purchasing 40 tote bags from eBay and then asked creative contacts for advice about producing images to print onto them. After seeking advice on ink printing and a talented friend kindly agreed to create some Ugandan animal illustrations, I purchased some carve rubber for handmade block prints and decided to use only the colours of the Ugandan flag – black, yellow and red – and letters from the word ‘Uganda’. With some help from YouTube and an evening with a couple of friends who helped me print in exchange for food and wine, I finished hand-printing the bags, each with a bespoke design. I documented my progress on a blog in the hope it would inspire more donations as people could see the research and work that went into each stage.

Handmade bracelets from Tanmeet Panesar

It was kind of spontaneous, I had a lot of colourful string at home that was just collecting dust so I figured I’d try and make something out of it. The inspiration came from seeing photographs of some bracelet ideas on Pinterest.

As you can see, Challenges work covers the entire spectrum of fashion and textiles. Our programme allows volunteers to utilise their creativity – whether that be through their fundraising before placement, their direct work to support African SME’s or during their work after placement. We are constantly inspired by the amazing work of the people and enterprise that we have had the pleasure of working with. We hope this blog has inspired you.

If you would like to get involved with Challenges work then visit our get involved page 

Green energy concept
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6 ways to increase use of renewable energy in Africa

Life is energy. From cells functionality and plants photosynthetic activity up to all the modern electric networks that we have nowadays. Currently, our energy use is based on fossil fuels, which have allowed us to boost our economy and improve our lifestyle. However, as any technology, its use have some consequences, which in this case are related to environment degradation and climate change.

Also, not everybody has access to this type of energy. Around 16% of the world’s populations have no access to electricity and many more have very poor access to it*.  Most of these populations are rural and are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, where people have to struggle every day with issues that would never pop into our heads as a problem in our daily lives. From not having electricity in hospitals at night to not having access to entertainment or just fewer hours to be productive at work and study.

All these put us in a crossroad, where we have to play smart if we want to overcome such social, environmental and, in a very close future, economic issues. So, how can clean energy be increased in Africa? And what can we do if we are living in the UK to promote it?

It’s more and more accessible every day!

Renewable energies are becoming more affordable and easy to install at a small scale. It is an excellent solution for lighting hospitals or put irrigation systems to work in rural communities. Even though there are still some limitations, like no sunlight at night or no-wind days, these clean tech options are a powerful tool to improve people’s quality of life. Besides, new technologies are arising and, for example, solutions for storage problems are not so far from becoming reality.

Solving the problem at household level is crucial in rural areas

Millions of homes across Africa have to spend money on kerosene every day for lighting. This can be a struggle when there is not enough money to buy food and the decision between one or another has to be made, besides being extremely harmful to health. Also, in some cities, the people that have access to energy find it too expensive compared to what they get. Therefore, solar panels have been a sustainable solution for households of different economic levels. An example of this is the work that Translight Solar and Sunny Money are doing in different African communities. At the end, providing alternatives to families is a good way to start and to offer solutions, before scaling to a country level.

There is no single energy solution

Fortunately, in our planet, energy abounds. From watercourses and the wind to sun and radioactivity. All of them are energy manifestations. Therefore, there is no such thing as an only one energy solution, all of them are needed to reach a sustainable supply and to solve the energy problems that many African countries face.

Not copying the Western model

African countries have a big opportunity: follow their own energy strategy, use and access path. Not easy, that’s true, but it’s not impossible. Policymakers need to enable and facilitate the conditions for renewable energies to be competitive compared to fossil fuels options, as well as to promote competition among such companies to improve their quality and protect costumers. Also, making this new technology accessible for rural communities can be one of many solutions to increase their livelihoods levels. An example of this is Vitalite in Zambia, where they’re making solar energy accessible to people with a pay-as-you-go strategy, which adapts to Zambians needs and culture.

There is a lot of work to do

Not just in Africa, but also in the UK. As citizens, we have the right and the duty to request from our governments’ cleaner energy strategies, better political platforms to increase investment and promote its use amongst the society. At the end, it’s also our responsibility to have a more sustainable economy and reduce our carbon footprint.

Join Challenges Worldwide

Finally, you can also be part of promoting clean energy in some African countries. You can take part in our International Citizen Service Volunteer programme and join the likes of David Burch, Nicola Abbott and Helen Wright in becoming part of a movement of active participants in sustainable change.

Through our programme, you may have the opportunity to work with environmental friendly enterprises and make a small-scale change that will sooner than later have a bigger impact.

We still have challenges, but we need people like you to find the solutions worldwide. Apply now!

 References

*http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/resources/energydevelopment/energyaccessdatabase/

By Mariana Cover

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Effectiveness of entrepreneurial capacity building in Uganda: A case study of the improved charcoal stove sector

This abstract is from a previous field research placement that saw an MSc student from Edinburgh University work with Ugandan SME Green Bio Energy during Summer 2016 to conduct field research for their MSc dissertation. 

If you are interested in conducting field research for your dissertation through Challenges Worldwide, visit our Overseas Research Placements page 

A case study of the improved charcoal stove sector

A number of African countries whereby people can struggle to get everyday access to basic needs, are on top of the international agenda to achieve development and eradicate extreme poverty while protecting the environment. 93% of the population in Uganda burn firewood, charcoal and crop residues in inefficient traditional stoves to meet their everyday basic needs of cooking and water heating (MEMD, 2015). In an effort to reduce deforestation and constant inhalation of smoke, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) in Uganda is embedded in a Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with international donors, to implement programmes that empower entrepreneurs to increase the production and distribution of improved charcoal stoves (ICSs), while fighting poverty. Non-governmental organisations are also committed to assisting enterprises to grow in capacity.


To try to find out if the current system of entrepreneurship empowerment is helping Uganda to escape poverty, empirical research was conducted in the country, using participatory observation and semi-structured interviews. As a result, three related situations that can challenge the overall effectiveness of the programmes were found:

  • Lack of legislation in the sector creates a gap between formal and informal firms. Informal firms produce inexpensive stoves that look like ICSs, making really difficult for formal firms to compete in price. Despite the poor quality of the non-ICS, people often wants to pay less as they can not afford a more expensive stove, especially if both look alike.
  • Grants and loans to help firms to build capacity are targeted to growth the firm’s infrastructure,
    i.e. new machinery, trucks, kilns, warehouses. However, the requisites to get a grant do not
    demand the assurance of good working conditions and salaries above the poverty line. Additionally, selection processes are generally based on the effectiveness of a paper proposal to address specific requirements. In many cases, proposals are made by experts that know what has to be projected, although, in reality, the firm does not have the capacity to achieve what has been proposed.
  • The firms get money to spend on infrastructure, however, due to informal competition, they have to sell the ICSs at a very low cost, reducing their profits almost to cero. This condition leaves the firm with low cash flow that directly affects salaries and the capacity to purchase protective equipment among other things.


The country is trapped in a vicious circle. Programmes are in place to tackle environmental and
health problems while fighting poverty. Funds are given to firms for infrastructure growth, increase production and sales. Low cash flow forces the firms to pay low salaries. People earn less that US$1.90 per day, a condition that does not allow them to escape poverty. Further research needs to be done among other sectors before generalising, however, this is an example of what is happening in the country and why people can not afford a more expensive stove. They end up buying a non-ICS, therefore, environmental and health problems are not being tackled and the country is not escaping from poverty.

Reference:

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL DEVELOPMENT. (2015). Uganda’s sustainable energy for all initiative – action agenda. [Online] Available from: http://www.se4all.org/sites/default/files/Uganda_AA_EN_Released.pdf [Accessed: 03-05-2016]

Pictures: Laura Jimenez

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