MFI Report

Eb-F implements its mission through the following three programmes:

- Social Entrepreneurship Programme -
This programme targets slum and rural Youths with a passion to start or expand small business ventures but lack the required financial resource. Eb-F takes on the role of 'lender of last resort' to these Youths as they may not get financial support elsewhere either because they do not have conventional collaterals or because they are just starting business. Youths constitute 70% of the Kenyan population or some 22.4 million people. Only less than 30% of the youths have access to professional training meaning that a huge proportion of the Kenyan youths lack basic skills that would make them employable or would enable them operate their own small businesses.
Eb-F’s social entrepreneurship programme purpose to provide business skills training and micro credit to slum and rural Youths to enable them start viable business ventures. The training component is handled by volunteer business school students from local Universities and Students from Sauder school of Business (University of British Columbia) in Canada. The Canadian students travel to Kenya once a year and most of the support is provided on line. The Youths are trained on basic business skills and then supported in formulating viable business plans. Eb-F then funds the businesses and links the young entrepreneurs to business mentors who act as critical friend to the business during the infant three years. The mentors are drawn from local business people and professionals from both the private and public sector.
The Universities then provide continuous skill training to the young entrepreneurs each month while Eb-F carries out a detailed monitoring and evaluation of the businesses every month. Eb-F is currently working to link the youths to markets both locally and internationally and we are developing an e-commerce site on our website to enable the youths access global markets. This process is unique and has resulted in a dramatic reduction in business mortality.

- Rural Development Programme -
The rural development programme is targeting peasant farmers and especially women. Most of the funding we are providing is to enable them purchase dairy cows. This programme has a skills training component that is provided by Land 'O' Lakes- an American NGO working in Kenya. The dairy farmers are then linked to milk processing factories that purchase the milk on dairy basis and pay the farmers at the end of the month. This ensures that the farmers have a constant source of income. Eb-F recovers its loans by check off system directly from the factories reducing transactional costs. The programme has now been extended to cover funding for horticulture farming.

- Women And Youths Support Project (WOYOSU) -
Responding to the Impact of HIV/AIDS
With HIV/AIDS killing and orphaning thousands of people daily in East Africa, Eb-F is currently implementing innovative interventions targeting Youths and Women as this is the segment of the society that is affected most by the impact of poverty and HIV. The programme is employing the principal of wealth creation as a mitigating tool against HIV by providing training and financial support to Women and Youths to set up income generating activities.
The programme targets:
• Female commercial sex workers wishing to exit and set up business enterprises as alternative source of income,
• HIV infected Youths and women and HIV Widows and Orphans operating or wishing to operate business enterprises,
• Care Givers (left to care for HIV orphans) operating or wishing to operate business enterprises where part of the income would contribute towards supporting the orphans’ access to shelter, food, healthcare, education, clothing and general well-being.
The programme in addition provides direct sponsorship to HIV orphans to enable them access Education and health services. The beneficiaries receive training in basic business skills, technical support in formulating simple business plans followed by business start up or expansion capital mostly in form of equipment and production materials. Each beneficiary is linked to a volunteer business mentor who plays the advisory role of a critical friend. The programme also seeks to link the beneficiaries with viable markets and out sourcing opportunities.
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