IICD supported project: Small Initiative Fund (SIF) 2 - Zambia

Countries: Zambia [ZM]
Sectors: livelihoods

Summary

The Small Initiative Fund (SIF) 2 enables grass-root organisations in poor communities to understand and work with ICT in small projects. Most of these projects use ICT such as computers, email, internet, and digital photo cameras to create the information products. Capturing local knowledge and expertise, as well as exchanging it and networking with relevant actors, the initiative would enhance and extend their existing activities.

Introduction

The four initiatives and its owners are:

• Infusion of ICTs in the Chipangano Community to enhance product marketing, productivity and sustainability (Chipangano Community Club Kabwe);
• Capacity Building of Community Based Organisations in ICT to enhance food security and fair trade opportunities (Kagoro Make Fair Trade Group);
• Improvement of Services (Kachabe Enterprise);
• Local Content & Gender Advocacy in the Eastern Province (One World Africa & Eastern Province Women’s Development Association (EPWDA).

[low bandwidth 838 KB] [broadband 3 MB]	Ms. Muzunza Chama, project facilitator of the Chipangano Club project explains how ICT contribute to the livelihoods of the rural communities around Kabwe.

Objectives

• Enhancement of business or improvement of the offered services. In order to maximize their potential development impact for the communities, the respective project partners have expressed a keen interest in learning to use ICTs to support and enhance their current activities. For example, email and access to telephone facilities will greatly enhance their ability to maintain and manage contacts with regard to selling goods and crafts created by the members. Similarly, making available information on the programmes and goods/services offered by the initiatives would help them source additional funding or help attract investors or tourists or other interested parties to their localities.
• Document and exchange of information. What makes these initiatives especially interesting is the opportunity to aid these organizations to document and exchange knowledge held by the parties regarding the life skills themselves, experiences from the non-formal education programmes, socio-cultural aspects of the served communities, etc. Documenting the approaches and methodologies used in the training programmes will also serve to exchange knowledge among the participating organizations separated by large geographic distances, and allow them to build on the experience of each other’s programmes to complement their own. This would allow for information to be available on a comprehensive set of subjects, incl.: brick making, pottery, sowing, tailoring, carpentry,  baking cakes, agricultural production and marketing, psycho-social and HIV/AIDS counseling, designing, electrical engineering, car maintenance and repair, and electrical fittings and repairs. SIF 2 will enable the initiatives to use basic ICTs such as computers, email, internet, and digital photo cameras to create the information products capturing local knowledge and expertise, as well as exchange it and network with relevant actors to enhance and extend their current activities.

Development Impacts

The development criteria for participants in SIF 2 were:

• Relevance to the IICD-priorities in Zambia (education, livelihoods)
• Project’s outcomes are tangible and support practical solution(s) for development challenges
• Initiative comes from local actors
• Clear need for project’s outputs for potential beneficiaries
• The project is related to or part of an existing initiative (not necessarily ICT)

Results

Chipangano: There was limited use of computers by students. The project team decided to verify this finding by visiting other projects. Upon confirming that the finding are true, Chipangano sought measures to avoid similar situations happening in their project.

Budget

Euro 19,205.00

Project Owner : Consultant George Akalemwa and One World Africa

Project Contact : IICD