Tag: enterprise

Impact Assesment of EDEMCS Beneficiaries

Recently, some members of EDEMCS executives: Anna Aipokhio, Yinka Olayioye and Photographer Austin Obi visited the beneficiaries of the first phase of the business loan project of EDEMCS for an impact assessment on the farmers. The loan was given in January 2016

The loan was given in January 2016 to empower the local women. The principles of participatory action research, which form the basis on which EDEMCS was founded, requires that any help given to the rural community should empower them towards sustainability and independence, rather than make them become perennially dependent on Aid. For ACIRD, we believe that aid should make people more independent and innovative, and inspire them to be creative entrepreneurs. In this report, we let the beneficiaries speak for themselves.

Mrs. Idiata Stella (Ehanlen – Ewu); Occupation: Poultry / Farming

MRS IDIATA STELLA, is a 49 years old widow with five children. She is from Ehanlen community in Ewu kingdom.

Question: What is your opinion of the loan support scheme?

Stella: I thank EDEMCS for their loan support scheme. It is a very laudable project and I am happy to be among the first beneficiaries.

Question: How and why were you selected as a beneficiary?

Stella: I was nominated by the village elders based on their assessment of me as a serous-minded member of the community. They are aware of my challenges and struggles. They asked me to obtain the application form from EDEMCS, which I did.

Question: What kind of business do you do?

Stella: I am into livestock rearing and crop farming. I have been in this business for about five years now. I am into this kind of business because I love taking care of animals. Taking care of animals gives me the opportunity to monitor my farm.

Question: How has the loan benefited your business?

Stella: The loan given to me has helped to increase the number of goats from 8 to 25, and I was also able to increase the size of my tomato and cassava farm. Although the money was not enough but I was able to expand my farm and livestock.

Question: Would you like to apply for more loan?

Stella: I wish I can have more, I will willingly take if given. My advice to other women is that EDEMCS has come to help the community and the loan is very convenient to pay, especially as there is no interest.

Mrs. Dauda Zuma Nusa (Eguare – Ewu); Occupation: Farming

MRS. DAUDU ZUMA NUSA is from Eguare community in Ewu kingdom. She is a 60 years old Muslim married with five children.

Question: What is your opinion of the loan support scheme?

Daudu: I came across EDEMCS during its inauguration. I was selected by my village as one of the beneficiaries. I obtained the loan application form from the village representative, because the process of the loan system is convenient and the source of the funds is genuine.

Question: What kind of business do you do?

Daudu: I am into farming. I cultivate plantain and cassava. I am also into trading and the rearing of animals (sheep and goats). I used the loan to hire labourers for the farm, thereby increasing the portion of land I cultivate.

Question: How has the loan benefited your business?

Daudu: I am very happy because the loan helped me to expand my farm land from what I used to cultivate before and also expanded my business in agricultural produce.

Question: What is your advice for other women?

Daudu: My advice to other women is that the loan is very convenient and the payment conditions are very favourable. They should use the money for the purpose for which it is meant because in the village, integrity is also a capital.

Mrs. Regina Aikhuele (Idunwele – Ewu); Occupation: Poultry

REGINA AIKHUELE, 52, is from Idunwele community of Ewu. She is married with six children.

Question: What kind of business do you do?

Regina: I have been a poultry farmer for 25 years. It’s the kind of business I love doing.

Question: How has the loan benefited your business?

Regina: I am proud of EDEMCS. I was selected by my village as one of the beneficiaries. EDEMCS is genuine and because of their background, I believed in them. Through the loan given to me I have been able to expand my poultry business. As you can see, these are new set of chickens I have just bought and they are doing very well and there is great improvement in my business. I sold that last set of birds during the Christmas period. The only challenges am having now is that the cost of buying their feed has skyrocketed.

Question: Would you like to apply for more loan?

Regina: If another opportunity is given to me I willingly accept.

February 27, 2017
Community Building through Action Research and Innovation
In February 2016, a group of local women farmers was presented with a cheque of $500 each to support them as they prepare for a new farming season. The money was presented to each farmer as a loan, which will be paid back within 12 months with zero interest. This is a development project initiated by the local communities themselves.

The oldest man in her community called the Ukodion, and the king of Ewu, guaranteed each beneficiary. No other collateral is needed except the integrity of each beneficiary. With this option, we adopted a parallel that is unlike the conventional top-bottom, western system of bank-controlled loan giving

The king of Ewu, Abdul Rassaq Ojeifo with EDEMCS executives and the beneficiaries of the $10,000 Dollars benevolent loan

In December 2016, another group of twenty men, women and youths were presented with a cheque of $500 each. They are all local entrepreneurs with a passion to earning a decent living in a sustainable way while also benefiting the community. They were selected from the different communities in Ewu kingdom. Each loan attracts a mere 2% interest.

The loan for EDEMCS was made available through a triangular partnership between ACIRD, based in the rural community of Ewu, Edo State, and Sterling Bank, through a special project aimed at empowering local communities and CISER, a Centre for Integral Socio-Economic Research, based in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Mrs. Helen, a local business woman, receiving a cheque from the king of Ewu village

Synopsis

The Ewu Development and Educational Multipurpose Cooperative Society (EDEMCS) is an initiative of Ofure (Pax) Integral Research and Development Initiative (OFIRDI), a subsidiary of Nigeria’s foremost herbal research institute, the Pax Herbal Clinic and Research laboratories (PAXHERBALS). ACIRD, nicknamed Pax Africana, is an evolution of Paxherbals from an organization, which deals mainly with traditional medicine as an alternative and complementary practice to allopathic medicine, to Pax Africana, a Centre that explores healing beyond biological or physical health to integral healing.

Center for Integral Social and Economic Research (CISER)

CISER is made up of a group of young Nigerian bankers who are passionate about evolving a new model of development banking and entrepreneurship built on local culture, worldview and community. Such a model will be well suited to the African context and tradition, rather than merely imitating the western model, using the Ewu community development association, EDEMCS, as a test case. Co-founder of CISER, Basheer Oshodi, believes that the principles of Islamic banking and finance can be adapted to bring about authentic socio-economic development in Africa.

Mrs. Stella, a local businesswoman, is one of the twenty beneficiaries

Through a combination of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Co–operative Inquiry (CI) research methodologies, a group of researchers at ACRID, led by Fr. Anselm Adodo, employed the tenets of PAR to activate the local community of Edo State to engage in regular dialogue to identify their challenges, and find a common ground to effectively proffer their own solutions rather than solutions from without. This led to the creation of Ewu Development and Educational Multipurpose Cooperative Society (EDEMCS). From a local group of marginalized and underrated people, EDEMCS is becoming a voice powerful enough to challenge the status quo, and ‘force’ a change in power relations in Edo state and Nigeria.

ACIRD aims to institutionalize knowledge creation in and for Ewu village in Edo State, Nigeria and Africa as a whole via a new theory called Communitalism, based on the four aspects of Pax: Pax Communis, Pax Spiritus, Pax Scientia and Pax Economia, altogether called Pax Africa. Communitalism, originating from the South, demonstrates that an institutionalized model of business and enterprise based on nature, community, spirituality and humanism, integrally so to speak, is a better driver of social and technological innovation in Africa.

How ACIRD Is Doing It in EDEMCS

Rather than ‘doing a project’ for the people, Pax Africana resolved to animate the local community by encouraging the different communities to engage in regular dialogue to identify their challenges and find a common ground to effectively proffer their own solutions rather than solutions from without.

The distinguishing feature of EDEMCS is that the local community is building on their own traditional systems, structure and worldview in order to create a better world for themselves. This bottom-up approach is a key element of sustainable development. The association cuts across all the villages that make up the Ewu kingdom. EDEMCS aims to identify the key potentials and resources in the local communities so as to develop them in a systematic and strategic way to lead to self-sufficiency, wealth creation and general transformation of the whole community, Edo State and Nigeria at large. The key concepts of EDEMCS are innovation and creativity and the belief that development and wealth can be attained and sustained only when they are grounded in local culture and worldview while open to modern changes.

EDEMCS’ sphere of influence covers all aspects of the life of the people: agriculture, small business enterprises, skill acquisition, teaching, youth empowerment and business management. Whatever brings development and progress to the community is of special interest to the association. The motto of EDEMCS is ‘United we stand. Divided we fall’

EDEMCS Membership Overview

EDEMCS members also comprise many active local women, who are the driving force behind the association. Among them is Esther Otoide, a traditional taxonomist, who is renowned for her ability to identify different species of local herbs and their historical use.

It is alarming that the local communities in Ewu and all over Nigeria are fast losing knowledge of the local names of medicinal plants as the old men and women have died, while the young people are heading for the cities. Esther works with other women to collaborate with Paxherbal in documenting the local names of medicinal plants and flora in Ewu and Edo State.

Through monthly meetings, the farmers are gaining new insights into traditional farming techniques and its often hidden potentials.

Within EDEMCS are three active subgroups.
- The youth group comprises mainly artisans: mechanics, electricians, carpenters, hairdressers, artists, painters, musicians, drummers, etc.
- The second group is the entrepreneurs comprising owners of supermarkets, restaurants, drinking joints and market women who sell agricultural products and clothing.
- The third group is the agricultural group comprising farmers, both male and female. Within the agricultural division of EDEMCS is another subgroup called the Ewu Association of Medicinal Plants Cultivators. They specialize in growing medicinal plants for the Paxherbal factory, a good example of communitalism in action.
January 3, 2017
Promoting Self Development in Rural Communities

The seasons are changing, the rainy season is here and nature is preparing to sprout and to blossom. The first days of March coincided with the first days of rainfall. Famers are busy with preparations of their farmlands for cultivation.

A Visit to one of the Local Farmers

Several weeks have passed since EDEMCS (Ewu Development and Educational Multipurpose Cooperative Society) gave out microfinance loans to the local farmers in the Ewu Community. Collectively we thought that it might be time to visit the women, to see the progress they have made and to hear their stories. Hence, a group of EDEMCS representatives set out to see these seven farmers in their homes and on their farms. Listening to the people is one of the key features of Participatory Action Research, based on the integral research model that forms the theoretical framework of EDEMCS community development approach.

A couple of birds currently owned by the beneficiary

A female beneficiary at work

Upon arrival the EDEMCS reps were welcomed in a very hospitable fashion, the women were excited to see and talk to them.

Crops and Animals Farming Essentials

The majority of the farmers are planting cassava, yam, tomatoes and peppers. It is now a very intensive time for them. The money from the first grant was mainly used to clear the fields. Since this is done by hand and not with automated machinery, it is a time-consuming and expensive task. This means bigger farmland for planting can be prepared.

Upon questioning if they would apply for a loan again all of them said yes, however, they proposed to increase the amount of money. This proposal will be taking into consideration for the next round of financing but is also dependent on how the end result will look.

Some of the women are cultivating poultry – turkey and chicken to be specific. They buy chicks, raise them until they are matured, and then sell them on the market. With the loans, they increased the number of chicks and it remains to be seen if this will be something they can sustain and hence profit from it in the long run.

One beneficiary (left) with EDEMCS representatives

A nursery for tomatoes owned by the beneficiary

The overall experience of seeing the farmers and how excited they are about this development effort was very positive.

Of course, we are only in our starting phase and not everything is perfect yet, but a solid start has been made and hopefully we will further develop in the future in order to be a sustainable initiative.

Written by Amadeus Stickl

March 27, 2016