SAN  CARLOS,  CALIFORNIA  |  KITALE,  KENYA  |  SOROTI  AND  HOIMA,  UGANDA  

 

 

 

 

 

Our  Mission  and  Vision  Village   Enterprise’s   mission   is   to   equip   people   living   in   extreme  poverty  with  resources  to  create  sustainable  businesses.  Our  vision  is  a   world   free   of   extreme   poverty   and   chronic   hunger,   where   people  have  the  economic  means  to  sustain  their  families.    

   

   

     

 

Our  Innovative  Rural  Microenterprise  Development  Model  Village   Enterprise   plays   a   unique   role   in   the   poverty   reduction   and  microenterprise  development   sector   in   rural   Kenya  and  Uganda.  Our  model   is   simple,   extremely   cost   effective   at   just   $500   per   business,  and  best  of  all   it  works.  By  equipping  enterprising  East  Africans  who  live  on  less  than  $1.25  a  day  with  the  resources  to  create  sustainable  businesses—seed   capital,   training,   mentoring   and   access   to   savings  and  growth  capital—we  are  permanently  breaking  the  cycle  of  poverty  for  our  business  owners  and  their  families.      Our  outcome  measurements  include  better  nutrition,  improved  health,  increased   education   for   children,   higher-­‐quality   housing,   individual  empowerment,  and  a  sense  of  hope  for  the  future.        A  vast  randomized  trial  –  the  gold  standard  of  evidence  –  involving  21,000  people  in  six  countries  suggests  that  a  particular  aid  package  called  the  graduation  program  (because  it  aims  to  graduate  people  from  poverty)  gives  very  poor  families  a  significant  boost  that  continues  after  the  program  ends…Dean  Karlan,  a  Yale  economist,  co-­‐author  of  the  study,  said  that  aid  groups  focused  on  very  similar  approaches  include  Trickle  Up,  the  Boma  Project,  Village  Enterprise,  and  Fonkoze.  

Nicholas  Kristof,  New  York  Times,  May  21st  2015  

Ø Since  our  inception  in  1987  Village  Enterprise  has  started  33,000  businesses,  trained  over  136,000  business  owners  and  impacted  the  lives  of  over  700,000  women,  men  and  children.  

Ø Launched  in  fall  2013  an  extensive,  3-­‐year  Randomized  Control  Trial  (RCT)  with  BRAC/Innovation  for  Poverty  Action  (IPA).  The  RCT  is  testing  several  variations  of  the  graduation  model,  which  will  reveal  their  relative  impact  and  SROI.    

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Village  Enterprise  At  A  Glance    

Impact  of  Our  Program*  

The  Landscape  

 

   SAN  CARLOS,  CALIFORNIA  |  KITALE,  KENYA  |  SOROTI  AND  HOIMA,  UGANDA  

 

                   

 

 

 

 

Grants  –  not  loans  –  allow  people  in  extreme  poverty  to  immediately  reap  the  benefits  of  their  new  businesses  profits.      Work  and  succeed  in  far  more  remote  and  poorer  villages  than  are  typically  served  by  MFIs  and  similar  organizations.    Effectively  target  the  most  vulnerable  with  87%  of  our  business  owners  living  under  $2.5/day  and  48%  living  under  $1.25/day.  80%  of  our  participants  are  women.    Relentless  tracking  and  continuous  improvement.  Early  adopters  of  smartphone-­‐based  data  collection  and  management  (TaroWorks).        

 Group-­‐based  approach.  Business  groups  of  three  bring  diverse  skillsets,  build  social  capital  and  produce  cost  efficiencies.      Local  East  African  leadership  model  highlighted  in  the  10th  anniversary  issue  of  The  Stanford  Social  Innovation  Review.  95%  local  African  staff.    Innovation  and  collaboration  in  our  DNA.  Rockefeller  Foundation's  100  Next  Century  Innovators  (among  1000+  applicants)  award  in  2013.  Village  Enterprise’s  Incubator  piloting  new  program  elements  and  innovations,  including  USAID  Youth  Study  &  MasterCard  Foundation  Savings  Study.      Cost  effective  graduation  approach  out  of  extreme  poverty  achieving  results  at  significantly  lower  costs  than  other  graduation  models.        

What  Makes  Us  Unique    

Scaling  Strategy:    Village  Enterprise  will  impact  500,0000  additional  lives  over  the  next  five  years  by:    Ø Creating  22,000  small  businesses  and  lifting  66,000  

households  out  of  extreme  poverty  in  Kenya  and  Uganda  Ø Scaling  ultra  poor  graduation  program  through  a  few  

flagship  partners  (large  NGOs  and  MFIs)  in  Sub-­‐Saharan  Africa      

JULY  2014  –  JUNE  2015