ASAP Africa - The Way Forward

ASAP's strategy is focused clearly on ASAP's mission - to cultivate self-reliance in Africa.

Implementation of ASAP Africa's 5 year action plan will:

• Increase income for 75,000 families in Zimbabwe and 15,000 in Malawi through ISL
• Annually increase agricultural yields in 48,000 households in Zimbabwe and Malawi through HANDEI
• Increase secondary school enrollment by 25% in selected districts in Zimbabwe through the Bridge the Gap Project
• Build the capacity of Community Based Organization (CBOs) to implement projects more effectively in their regions.
• Secure premises in Zimbabwe and Malawi to operate in a more stable environment.
• In Malawi, ASAP's country office will house a social enterprise providing inputs to rebuild soils and generate funds for ASAP, provide improved local agriculture inputs, decrease environmental degradation and create micro-franchise business opportunities for entrepreneurs.
• In Zimbabwe, ASAP's country office will house a vocational training with production facility, which will generate funds for ASAP, provide hands-on training in furniture making, computer repair, building (bricklaying) and a center for building the capacity of CBOs.
• In Zimbabwe, ASAP's will build low cost housing and make these available to ISL micro-entrepreneurs.

ASAP has tried various approaches to affect positive change in communities in Africa since 1994. Most resulted in creating dependency syndrome. Experience is a great teacher, ASAP is now confident that the current program produces the desired results. Centered on the Internal Savings & Lending micro finance program, ASAP's strategy is to scale up ISL programming and to use it as a starting point to implement other locally identified interventions.

ASAP has been operating on piece-meal project funding since 1994 with no donor investing in ASAP as an institution - only in specific projects. However, ASAP has never requested this support since project models were not well established until recently. ASAP generated its own operating support from 1994-2005 through a successful social enterprise. A woodworking training center in Zimbabwe produced durable school furniture kits and provided training and tools for rural carpenters to build furniture at rural schools. By 2005 the program had become unviable and was closed. This was due to the severe economic decline that has gripped Zimbabwe since 2001.

In Zimbabwe, ASAP is currently implementing ISL projects in partnership with four NGOs: Catholic Relief Services, Plan International, Concern World Wide and CARE. These project partnerships have helped to strengthen ASAP's systems and procedures. The funding for these projects does not cover ASAP's true operating costs; often excluding support for management staff, indirect costs, program expansion, asset replacement, staff training or professional development. Re-establishing an effective social enterprise that provides a sustainable funding base is one of ASAP's primary goals. This will fund ASAP's overhead costs, providing discretionary funds for staff development, growth and to put a competitive staff compensation package in place providing motivational benefits such as educational assistance and housing loans. The Internal Savings and Lending project will continue to be ASAP's leading program.

Click here to learn more about how the Internal Savings & Lending Program works.

ASAP's operating reserves funded program replication into Malawi in early 2008, shortly before the global economic downturn. In Malawi, ASAP launched its first ISL project, in January 2009 to improve the livelihoods of nearly 7,000 people over 3 years. In 2009 ASAP secured program support from Cordaid (a Dutch Catholic Foundation) for approximately 50% of the 3 year ISL budget.

Agricultural training has been added to the ISL project in Malawi because a desperate need for crop improvements in drought prone southern Malawi exists. In partnership with a Malawi based organization, Total Land Care (TLC) about 5% of ASAP's planned agriculture intervention is currently funded. This includes training in conservation farming, rainwater harvesting and seed-multiplication and provides small loans for treadle pumps to selected farmers at a subsidized price. Demand for the services ASAP provides is overwhelming in Malawi and the program has been very well received.

ASAP's Experience and the Value-Added by ISL

Between 1994 and 2001 in Zimbabwe, ASAP worked closely with clusters of schools and school development committees to prioritize and address needs for education infrastructure. ASAP helped communities throughout Zimbabwe build 136 teacher's houses and 171 classrooms. ASAP's Building with Education program allowed students studying building to carry out their "practical exams" on nearby construction jobsites. At ASAP's urban carpentry training center, 40 unemployed school leavers earned certificates and found employment. In addition, through ASAP's Carpentry Outreach Project, 117 rural carpenters attended 4-week intensive carpentry training workshops. The rural schools paid these graduates to build over 1,900 4-seater desks. ASAP supplied all the materials for these desks, funded by donors, and generated income from this. ASAP also provided book binding training to help schools maintain and salvage precious schoolbooks.

To support entrepreneurial activities, ASAP partnered with UK based Tools For Self-Reliance, distributing over 12,800 tools for bicycle repair, blacksmith, leather craft, shoemaking, plumbing and sewing as their Zimbabwe duty-free importer. The majority of tools were distributed through other NGOs; however, some tools were provided to both primary and secondary "ASAP schools" which helped children gain hands-on life skills to help them survive in the harsh economic climate in Zimbabwe.

While these pre-2001 efforts were fruitful, they lacked local leadership and were unsustainable. When combined with ISL, there is a basic structure in place that creates community based leadership and active participation. ASAP works through volunteer Community Facilitators (CFs) in each village. This woman is selected by her peers to represent their village and attend additional ASAP training sessions. Secondary training topics such as agriculture skills, water projects, children's rights, women's rights and basic health education are very cost effective for ASAP to implement through the CFs, who share knowledge and skills with their peers. Since 2001, ASAP has successfully integrated projects to improve agriculture production, health, nutrition and food security with ISL. Click here to read more.

Zimbabwe Education

Since 2000, ASAP has been working with selected primary schools in Zimbabwe to improve the teaching and learning of math through the Bridge the Gap Project (BTG). Math teaches children to think and reason and breaks the barrier to academic success across the curriculum and throughout life. Through teacher's and student's math clubs ASAP supports teachers to strengthen rural math education and encourages students to enjoy learning math. In the future ASAP will incorporate ISL activities into the BTG project to create a more entrepreneurial, practical approach to education at primary level. To increase access to secondary school, ASAP will put a grant facility in place. Funds generated by Primary school students that are used for secondary school tuition will be matched.

With this clearly defined vision and total donor investment of USD 9,495,000 ASAP will reach the following goals after three years:

In Zimbabwe
1. The ISL program will scale-up reaching 75,000 households annually, and future projects will be identified by communities. ($2,625,000 @ $35 per beneficiary)

2. Health and Nutrition Development Initiative (HANDEI project) will improve crop yields for 40,000 families annually in Zimbabwe. ($1,800,000 @ $45 per beneficiary)

3. Bridge the Gap Math Grade 7 teacher-training project combined with ISL will expand provincially providing the opportunity for Grade 7 student to raise funds for Form I (first year of secondary school). ASAP will match fees raised by 12,600 students up to $150 per student in 630 primary schools. ($2,835,000)

4. A training with production and business incubation center will be established to provide training in computer repair, furniture making and building (bricklaying). By offering services to the public, students will gain practical application of concepts learned and entrepreneurial skills in all departments. This social enterprise will generate non-earmarked income for ASAP. The incubation center will allow advanced students to showcase and market their products. The training facility will also be used to build the capacity of community based organizations in Zimbabwe to implement ISL and it will house ASAP's offices. ($445,000)

In Malawi
1. The Chimvano Pa Chuma (CCP) program, which provides training in ISL and food security, will scale-up, reaching 15,000 households annually. The agricultural component will meet the demand expressed by the community. Approximately 8,000 families will improve their agriculture yields annually. ($1,365,000 @ $65 per beneficiary)

2. An organic fertilizer production project will be established to fill the need for agriculture inputs in Southern Malawi, establishing a micro-franchise opportunity for rural entrepreneurs and non-earmarked income for ASAP. The facility will also house ASAP's regional and country offices. ($425,000)

Conclusion

Once ASAP's vision is in place, over 100,000 families in Zimbabwe and Malawi will realize tangible improvements in the quality of their daily lives. ASAP's Zimbabwe and Malawi locations will each generate sustainable income from operating a social enterprise that furthers ASAP's mission. Staff retention and motivation will increase as ASAP matures into a viable international organization with adequate systems in place to replicate ASAP's program as deemed appropriate.