Overview

MOC implements Household Economic Strengthening to facilitate caregivers` and adolescents` ability to meet both expected and unexpected household expenses. To achieve household economic stability objectives, MOC implements the following interventions; Savings groups, Value Chain, Financial Literacy Training, and Adolescents` Skills Development.

Adolescents` Skills Development (Community Apprenticeship): 

We implement an adolescent` skills development targeting out of school children aged 15-17 years. Enrolled adolescents are attached to identified successful crafts persons operating in the trades of the adolescents` choices. Adolescents undergo a hands-on training for a minimum period of six months. The training takes a very practical approach, emphasising more on the hard skills, soft skills and not much of theory.

Numbers of adolescents attached to a trainer range 1-5 depending on assessed capacity. In addition to skills training on a selected trade, youth also learn skills which include budgeting, marketing, business management, records keeping and assertiveness as the master craftsperson runs his/her business. Upon completion of the training, adolescents have chances to the entrepreneurial route or formal employment. Others choose to further their knowledge and skills in the chosen trades by enrolling into formal learning institutions such as technical training colleges. Trainers must receive child safe-guarding training, and basic computer skills.

Community cadres are responsible for identifying eligible adolescents, and trainers they also carryout preliminary assessments and shortlisting. During the training period, weekly visits to the training sites are conducted by community cadres. At the end of the training, MOC provides some start-up kits to groups of adolescents who choose the entrepreneurial route.  Adolescents bind themselves by a constitution to working together and guide their operations by a project proposal and cash flow budgets.

Savings Groups: 

We currently use two savings group methodologies: Internal Saving and Lending (ISAL) and Saving and Internal Lending Communities (SILC). Both methodologies are intended to inculcate a saving culture and money management skills at the household level, among caregivers working with us.  Caregivers receive training, then pool their savings, which are used as capital to fund household income-generating activities. Trained caregivers self-select into groups bound by a constitution and agree on the saving and lending terms. Area Facilitators (ISAL) and Field Agents (SILC), who are volunteers, conduct intensive monitoring from the day of group formation, whose frequency decreases towards the end of the 18-month capacity-building cycle, beyond which they become autonomous. In the ISAL methodology, groups also receive Selection Planning and Management (SPM) of business training after three to four months from the date of ISAL training. SPM training helps them to choose income generating activities and improves their business management skills.  Share out meetings take place at the end of a saving and lending cycle, where groups share out lump sums and in some cases they also share-out assets. In addition to meeting basic household needs, there is potential for reinvestment and asset building following share-out meetings.

Value Chain Training and Participation: 

Value Chain refers to all activities and services that bring a product or service from conception to its final use in a particular industry. Value Chain can be illustrated as – from input supply to production, processing, wholesale and finally retail. At each stage in the chain, value is being added to the product or service. The Value Chain Model brings together actors at each step, and relationships between actors are key in this model.

Value Chain allows the actors and supporters to study and understand their surrounding environment. Value Chain actors may decide to upgrade and come into joint processing or marketing to add value to goods or services, build long term alliances with other chain actors centred on interests or mutual growth. In most cases, they build direct links with consumer markets to secure and maintain competitive advantage in the market. MOC employs this model on caregivers and adolescents engaged in income generating activities to enhance their competitiveness and profitability, therefore increasing household income.

Through value chain mentoring, caregivers are assisted to :

• Formalise businesses and make it easy for them to get support (workspace, contracts, loans),
• Organise into groups and enjoy sales discounts (bulk purchase, access training, meet production quotas, certification),
• Upgrade their Value Chain and access specialist training, and
• Assess impact and report successes.

Financial Literacy Training:

MOC, with support from Old Mutual Zimbabwe, trained 83 area facilitators and field agents in financial literacy in Harare and Mashonaland East provinces. The Old Mutual’s On the Money model focuses on  financial education initiative created to teach all Africans how to best manage their finances. The programme is based on the behaviours of Africa’s Big Five animals. The unique characteristics of the Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo, as found in nature, have been distilled to teach participants how to manage their personal and family finances.

Key financial concepts from the traits of the Big Five animals:

• Lion

The lesson from the lion states that Eat first ahead of the pack by committing to an automatic, fixed savings plan. This will help change participants` spending patterns. Even if small amounts are saved, one will be developing a savings habit.

• Leopard:

The leopard always aims for things it knows it can get. This teaches participants to Have a clear idea of their goals. It is vital to be realistic, achieved by recording clear and specific short-, medium- and long-term visions that are realistic, achievable and inspiring.

• Elephant

The elephant never forgets. Knowledge is power. Human memory is a little unreliable. Proper record-keeping will help you understand your spending habits much better and how to change them to suit your income and future goals. Participants are trained to develop a family budget at least once a year. They must develop a plan to track difficult variable expenses using the elephant envelopes method.

• Rhino:

The rhino’s weapon is to charge. When threatened, it looks for the biggest threat and charges, taking swift control of the situation. Getting out of debt can be one of life’s most difficult challenges, but it is also one of the most important things you can ever do. Learn from the rhino by charging down your debt as fast as you can. Plan and manage your debt. Identify the risks, pitfalls, limitations, and unforeseen events that affect a budget. Explain the consequences of not having a good credit rating.