PROJECT UPDATE AND MANAGEMENT

This post summarises (1) the outputs of the General Assembly Meetings that was held on 28^th October 2013; and (2) gives detail on governance and finance aspects of the project to update the different stakeholders on (3) progress towards establishing the Barefoot Cooperative.

(1)    General Assembly Meetings

The two meetings required by the Sudan cooperative law were held concurrently. They are held in the presence of a representative from the cooperatives’ office where registration is requested. The following points summarise the minutes of the meetings.

·         Venue: Hai Eldubat (Officers’ neighbourhood) Club, Hai Eldubat, Omdurman

·         Date: 4 – 6pm, Monday 28^th October 2013

·    Number of attendees: 104 [in presence of Mr. Suliman Mahgoub – Representative of Cooperative Registration, Omdurman Office]

·   Main Discussion Points: The proceedings of the meeting follow the process required for registration of cooperatives that include (a) general introduction (delivered by Cooperatives Representative) on the role, opportunities and rules of cooperatives. The discussion is conducted in a way that meeting participants get a chance to inquire about any aspect of the cooperative and their participation as members. The second part (b) of the meeting is dedicated to arriving at a consensus on management aspects such as share value, membership fees, and governance structure.

a)      Q & A during general introduction:

Questions were asked about members and steps to gain or abort a membership, fiscal year, types of cooperatives, what is a good type to choose for this cooperative, its name and purpose and how it can relate to other organisations and cooperatives. The cooperative representative responded and explained the process of forming an executive committee which becomes the governance structure that deals with according the cooperatives law and regulations. He also gave information on yearly reporting, finance management and discussed the types of cooperatives and indicated that the proposed model allows different activities.

b)      Suggestions during discussion on Management aspects:

There were two suggestions for the value of a share, 200 and 100 SDG (both excluding the membership fee[1] of 10 SDG), and the total value of a share to be spread in instalments over a year. There was one suggestion (seconded) regarding the size of the executive committee to be set to 11 members and who can act as establishment-phase committee. It was also suggested that the cooperative will be hosted in Mirri and Laggori community clubs until a hosting and eventually a permanent location will be organised. 

·         Decisions:

                                i.            General consensus on proposed name and type of Cooperative as Barefoot Cooperative, to be registered as multi-purpose.

                              ii.            Voting on the two suggestions for the value of one share favoured the 200 SDG option. This involves setting the membership (entrance) fee to 10 SDG (required by end of the meeting) and the first instalment at 50 SDG to be paid in two weeks from the date of the General Assembly Meeting. The remaining 150 SDG to be paid as instalments with the year.

                            iii.          A list[2] of 11 members was unanimously endorsed by the general assembly as the first executive committee of the Barefoot Cooperative. 

(2)    Governance and Finance

The management of the project has now transferred to the executive committee who met 2 times since its formation (on 3^rd and 10^th, November 2013). The executive committee is concerned with the finalising the registration process. This requires submitting to the cooperatives’ office the membership names with evidence that membership fees have been   collected, in addition to the minutes of the general assembly meeting. To date the following have been achieved:

·        Hai Eldubat will host the Barefoot Cooperative until a place is rented.

·        Use of Amal Adam personal bank account[3] as a temporary deposit account and a mechanism to manage finance.

·      The deadline for payment of first instalment is 27^th November 2013 (the total amount that will be collected is 5000 [4]SDG).

The team is also running the day-to-day tasks, working on establishing the work ethos such as the internal constitution, financial system, etc. in liaison with the cooperatives’ office. The project finance is primarily composed at this stage of first instalment collections (ongoing) and an account of the fund raising activity that was conducted to cater for the general assembly meeting expenses (summarised below):

·           Estimated expenses was 6,645 SDG that include the following:

a)      Transportation of 13 members from Kadugli to Khartoum (return) =  5,200 SDG

b)      Transportation of the remaining 87 members from Haj Yousif & Ombadda to Hai Eldubat (return) = 640 SDG

c)       Meeting refreshments = 400 SDG

d)      Miscellaneous Registration fees (registrar and registration) = 405 SDG

·           An appeal for financial support was sent out (14 October 2013) on email and shared among immediate circle of organisers. A number of donors came forward and a decision was made to reduce the number of members to come from Kadugli. 11 out of 13 Kadugli names were replaced with new members (who reside in Khartoum) while the remaining two were Barefoot Women Solar Engineers (Khadiga Omar and Umhaggen Ramadan).

·           This appeal generated 2120 SDG and the actual expenses of the meetings (to cover the items above) equalled 2400 SDG. A system of financial accounts was set to be followed by organisers in charge of the various tasks (such as preparing meeting refreshments, arranging transportation). See financial statement of theGeneral Assembly Meeting expenses.

(3)    Project Progress

The main progress point was holding the general assembly and starting the official process of registration. This job was carried out by the preparatory committee that included representatives from Mirri and Aldorot in addition to Amal and Gada. The executive committee that was elected at the general assembly is following on the steps required to complete the official registration process of the Barefoot Cooperative. This includes assigning committee offices, collecting first instalments from all members, opening a bank account, and obtaining the registration certificate, as well as liaising with cooperative office regarding setting the internal constitution, training programme, and other types of support given to cooperatives in formation.

This progress would not have been possible without the efforts of the preparatory committee who organised the meeting, and by the contributions of the following:

·         Ms. Amal Adam who took on her voluntary role as project manager and oversaw most of the preparation efforts and managed the budget. She will be following as an executive committee member the establishment of the cooperative.

·     Ms. Saadia Abdelfarag Rahama who contacted Hai Aldubat Club to host the general assembly.

·         The Club’s management who offered their premises free of charge as well as the use of their facilities (tent, chairs water coolers, etc.). The kindly extended their support and offered to host the cooperative is this establishment phase.

·        Mr. Suliman Mahgoub from the Cooperative authorities who responded to all queries and discussed the various opportunities for cooperatives.

·    The donors who without their generous contributions this meeting would not have been possible with the same ease as their donations have help to take the pressure off the organisers and cooperative members.

This post was sent as report to project stakeholders on 17th November 2013. 

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[1] This is a requirement from cooperative authority that an entrance fee is collected from the membership to cater for expenses of executive committee meetings and general management of the cooperative.

[2] The list was prepared during the preparation phase that involved meetings with representatives from the beneficiary communities (Mirri and Laggori/Aldorot), stated in the project proposal. According to the cooperatives law, membership is open to the public who fulfil specific conditions, however, in this project, women and the Barefoot Women Solar Engineers were the proposed focus (refer to Concept Note and October Progress Report). The membership lists that were compiled by each community observed a ratio of 7:3 for female to male. This ratio was also reflected in the executive committee that includes 6 women (including Mona Aursal and Khadiga Omar) and 4 men (5 members from each community); in addition to Amal Adam who will represent a neutral entity to help in managing the project and follow with donors (and Gada).

[3] This is an unused bank account that belongs to Amal Yassin Adam at Omdurman National Bank). It will be used temporarily (and governed through deposit slips and regular bank statements) for saving membership fees. Upon completion of the registration process, the cooperative is allowed to open its own bank account.

[4] This is the amount of the first instalments (50 SDG) multiplied by 100 members.

PROJECT CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

The establishment of The Barefoot Cooperative capitalises on capacities acquired by women who trained at the Barefoot College in 2009 and 2012 for income generation to sustain the livelihoods of the women. While the core training they acquired was on solar electrification of rural villages, this project utilises other skills (such as chalk and candle making) that the women solar engineers acquired at their first and second training at the college. After the first training course[1] the women returned to their home villages in the Nuba Mountains[2] (South Kordofan, Sudan) and solar electrified Mirri village in February 2011 (where two of the trained solar engineers come from and which was one of two villages that was targeted with the solar electrification project). In addition to the benefits that electricity brings, the impact of project was also observed on changing the mindset about women and technology, especially in rural settings. For the women, the project was an empowering experience and their achievement was celebrated and cherished by their community. After years of stability and signs of development, the two ruling political parties disagreed on election poll counts and war erupted for the second time in June 2011 in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan (South Kordofan State).  The Mirri community was displaced as a result of the conflict; some of their solar equipment was looted in the chaos; and their triumph and plans for better living and prosperity were quashed after only a few months.

The effects of war on the Nuba Mountains region and more specifically on the lives of local women, is one of the stark and dreadful marks of Sudanese conflicts on its civilian populations. The Nuba Mountains geographic location, bordering dormant and active conflict zones e.g. South Darfur and the rich oil fields of Abyei, has inadvertently but often purposely and directly affected the region’s security and its development. During the second outbreak of the North/South war 1983 – 2005 and the involvement of the Nuba Mountains, the region suffered from displacement, migration, poverty and more significantly deep mistrust was built among the communities who live in the region where loyalties were split along SPLM and Government lines. One of the project’s contributions can be summarised in what Khadiga comment on the day they finished putting up the lights in Mirri. She said “you know I never been to Mirri before this project, we don’t like them [pause] but now, I really like them, they are really nice people”. For two communities who found themselves on opposite sides, the project not only created solar engineers but also understanding and acceptance of the other.

In 2012, a year after the project was halted, an appeal to the Barefoot College to sponsor a second training for the solar engineers and keep the know-how for Mirri and Aldorot to rebuild their villages when the time is right was granted and the solar engineers returned to Tilonia for the course of September 2012 – March 2013. This was indeed a symbol of solidarity and continued support by the College, and the Government of India. While the war still rages in South Kordofan with no signs peace returning to that region as yet, the engineers’ lives have become financially challenging with many other families who lost their livelihoods and were displaced from their villages. This project aims to alleviate this burden by establishing a small factory linked with a cooperative to produce and sell products. The long term plan is to establish a training centre to engage women from similar situations from the Nuba Mountains or other conflict-ridden areas in Sudan.

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[1] This first phase of the project was managed by Ruya Organisation (under the directorship of Zeinab Balandia)

[2] See Map in Resources & References.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The short term objective of this project is to establish an income generating entity for the benefit of the Barefoot College Women Solar Engineers (BCWSE) that utilises soft skills they acquired alongside their solar electrification training; while the long term objective is to establish a training programme by which the BCWSE can pass their skills to other women in need and interested to join the established income generating entity or to develop their own small business.

This project draws from lessons learned from the experience of the solar electrification of Mirri; and situated in the ethos and approach of the Barefoot College (BC) for improving access of rural communities to technology and encouraging the use of traditional knowledge. The Barefoot model for rural development engages the community in the decision making process and emphasises community ownership and project sustainability. Following the conflict in 2011, and the chaos of displacement of Mirri community and the loss of much of their solar equipment, the Mirri solar engineer and some members of her community decided to conduct a situation analysis which they had to do across fire lines. They conducted surveys in Khartoum State (where many fleeing the conflict were displaced) as well as in neighbouring North Kordofan State, in various other villages, and in Mirri itself. This resilient act can be argued as evidence that Barefoot’s model not only does it empower the rural poor with appropriate technologies, but also that the concept of project ownership by the community is just not a buzz-phrase but is a real feeling that was manifested in the efforts, against all odds, of this particular community to hold on to what they saw as theirs. The model uses learning-by-doing to transfer the know-how inside the community which facilitate self-sufficiency (equipment maintenance is performed by the solar engineers) and community inter-learning (e.g. by the end of Mirri solar electrification there were nine community members who became skilful at assembling lanterns and connecting the various equipment through their apprenticeship with the solar engineers). This particular experience showed the training capability of these women and supports the project’s long term objective of incorporating a training component. The choice of candidates for training will also follow in the steps of the College in its focus on grandmothers (or “habboba” in Sudanese Arabic) as the least likely to leave the village, in the choice of candidates for the membership of the cooperative as employees, producers and trainees. Notwithstanding the giant learning curve the solar engineers and volunteer team in Sudan need for realising the Barefoot model, it will serve as the project’s underlying philosophy and guide of best practice.

TOOLS, PHASES AND MILESTONES

The first objective will utilise the model of community cooperatives following the local registration conditions and procedures, while the second objective will utilise a combined approach of literacy and trainers-of-trainers programmes. The following table lists the main steps, timeline and milestones of Phase (I) which covers the first 6 months of the project. The next two phases of the project, 6 months and 12 months respectively, are aimed at improving business sustainability (such as extending local material use in production), incorporating a social responsibility component (such as provision of training programme) and supporting BCWSE own business plans (e.g. whether to continue as a single entity or to each establish own business).

Phase I: Establishing Cooperative	Expected Duration (Weeks)	Milestone
1.    Register with local authority	8	Certificate of registration
2.    Prepare working environment	4	Rented and furnished space
3.    Establish management structure          i.       Capacity building of BCWSE on small business management        ii.       Planning of marketing campaign	4	i.     Procedures/templates for Monitoring, evaluation and reporting  ii.     Marketing plan
4.    Test production process	2	Samples of quality assured products
5.    Execute first production/sales cycle	4	Sales report
6.    Evaluate cycle and make recommendations	2	Report on process/product improvement
Phase II: Establishing Profit(business sustainability)	6 months	i.     Self-sustained cooperative  ii.     Training programmes blueprint
Phase III: Establishing Social Responsibility (literacy and trainers-of-trainers programmes)	1 year	i.     Assessment of training programmes  ii.     Recommendations on expansion of cooperative

Table 1. Project Phases, Duration and Milestones

In consultation with project donors, the findings from the first 6 months will be utilised to improve processes of production, marketing and management of the project, and to plan the next phases of the project (Phases II & III) by considering what the project achieved in Phase (I), the challenges it faced and its sustainability and training prospects. 

REQUIREMENTS AND BUDGET

There are 3 skills that the BCWSE will utilise to produce the types of products to be marketed through the cooperative. The requirements for production are split along product types, namely, sanitary pads, chalk and candles making. The budget is in formation stage pending more information on Chalk and Candle making to be able to estimate productivity and the quantities of raw material required, as well as expert advice for selecting appropriate components that are environment-friendly and utilises local material.  The profile of the Sudanese BCWSE, raised through the various presentations at local and international levels (Resources & References), opens possibilities for fund raising as well as for seeking governmental or non-government support. The volunteer group working on this project will be engaged in fund raising activities when the budget is finalised and the deficit estimated more accurately.

Table (2) presents the estimates of expenses in Sudanese pounds (SDG) that cover Phase I (6 months) and the budget available are presented in sections (i) and (ii) respectively.

               i.     Production expenses[1]:

Product	Requirements
	Item			Quantity		Price/unit (SDG)		Total (6 month)	Notes
Sanitary pads [Expected output = 4000 piece per month]	Sewing machine			2		2000		4000	Non-recurring expense, maintenance cost to be estimated
	Pressing machine			1		-		-	Donated by BC
	Sewing materials			1		20		120
	Cotton			45		4 per roll		1080
	Paper			2		80		960
	Gauze			5		10		300
	Linoleum			-		-		-	Not available locally
	Glue			5		10		300
Chalk [Expected output=?]	Chalk making machine			1		-		-	Donated by BC
	Gypsum			?		1 per kg		?
	Fillers (such as calcium carbonate, zinc oxide or talc powder)					10 per kg (talc powder)		?
Candle [Expected output=?]	Candle making machine			1		-		?	Donated by BC
	Paraffin wax			?		?		?
	Citric acid			?		?		?
	Dyes and colours			?		60		?
	Thread			?		10 per roll		?
TOTAL (SDG)								6760 + unknown amounts
Working space expenses		Item	Quantity		Price/unit (SDG)		Total (6 months)			Notes
		Rental	1		500		1 * 500 * 6 = 3000			Uses donation from (1) SH and (2) TE
		Electricity	200		50		200 * 50 * 6 = 6000
		Salaries	2		480		2 * 480 * 6 = 5760
		Misc (10% of total of working space expenses)					1476
TOTAL (SDG)							16,236
GRAND TOTAL (SDG)							22,996

Table 2. Estimated Budgetary Requirements

             ii.     Budget:

It can be observed from Table (2) that some of the major expenses are covered by donations. These include:

·        In kind support from the Barefoot College in the form of Machinery that will be used in production (except sewing machines that can be procured locally), in addition to raw materials required for a production cycle.

·        Other donations that will be used to support start-up funds covering mainly working space expenses include (1) 2000 US$ (from Sondra Hale) which approximately amounts to 11,000 SDG at current exchange rate of 5.5; and (2) rental cost for the first 6 months (from Tarig Eltigay) which is estimated at 3,000 SDG.

In addition, BC will donate goods for resale (e.g. universal eyes glasses) that can augment this budget and sustain the project in the first year (Phases I & II). Raw material expenses shown on table represent the cost of materials if procured locally which will utilise return from initial sales. The pricing of goods (produced and resale) will be defined after a market survey (to be conducted during steps 3 & 4 in Phase I) which adds to the budget available. However, the current deficit is approximately 8996 SDG (in addition to “unknowns of chalk and candle making in Table 2” and “additional/unaccounted for expenses in section 6vii”).

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[1] “?” denotes missing amounts that require knowledge on quantities required and productivity rates.