By Betty Luke
Fifteen community groups from Isiolo’s Oldonyiro, Chari,Cherab and Burat wards are set to benefit with business startup capital following an intensive capacity building session by Merti Integrated Development Program (MIDP) in partnership with Isiolo County Government.
The women and youth-led groups will each receive a Sh50,000 grant to enable them begin income generating ventures as well as expand their existing businesses for improved livelihoods.
Speaking after a two-day training aimed at equipping the beneficiaries with business related skills, the grantees maintained that the help would support them establish more businesses, offering members multiple sources of income.
“Majority of my group members are already into butchery, hardware and Mpesa businesses but the income is not sustainable. The grant will help us start a cyber business to offer services closer home as well as boost our accounts, as a group,” noted Seku Women group’s member Domina Sieku.
The beneficiary noted that the skills gained would enable them manage the new and existing businesses in a better way for maximum profit.
“We are used to running our businesses without records but we have learnt the importance of record keeping and we intend to put the skills gained into practice,”she added.
Yakub Jarso whose group undertakes fish rearing in Chari ward hailed the initiative terming it as timely, saying they were struggling with numerous challenges including record keeping and inadequate facilities.
“We are grateful to MIDP and their partners for the training session that has equiped us with knowledge on how to keep our financial records for the benefit of our members,” he said.
Noting that they were facing numerous challenges including cultural barriers and lack of markets for their products, Mr Jarso said they were keen on enlightening their community in efforts to change their perception towards fish farming as an alternative source of livelihood.
MID-P Program manager Ibrahim Kabelo said the three year project funded by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through Sign of Hope sought to improve livelihoods of communities hardly hit by climate change.
The project aims to economically support 165 women and youth groups across the county to ensure stable sources of livelihood.
Five Village and Savings Loans Associations (VSLAs) groups benefited with a seed grant of Sh200,000 each last week.
“The groups we are supporting have already developed their business plans so we come in to support them with skills to effectively run the ventures,” said Mr Kabelo who added that the organization had partnered with the county’s Trade department to build the capacity of their beneficiaries.
Trade Chief Officer Abdullahi Mohammed Bonaya termed the project as transformative and urged the beneficiaries to ensure the funds are used for the intended purpose.
He reiterated the county government’s commitment to provide an enabling environment for the residents to do business through the establishment of an aggregation center as well as completion of ongoing projects such as Isiolo town modern market and export abattoir.
“We are committed to expedite the completion of facilities such as the abattoir and the market to ensure traders have a conducive environment for business as well as to facilitate value addition activities for our livestock products,”he said
