Masindi Community Foundation

Masindi Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by the communities of Masindi district to build social capital for promoting and facilitating asset based development as an approach that enables groups of local citizens establish and manage sustainable social enterprises capable of improving their livelihoods and helping them achieve poverty relief.

MCF serves Masindi, a Mid-Western Uganda district comprised of twelve (12) subcounties and a population of around 669,900 people. The subcounties are: Miirya, Masindi Municipal, Nyangahya, Karujubu, Kimengo, Bwijanga, Budongo, Pakanyi, Kiryandongo, Kigumba, Mutunda and Masindi Port.

Vision

Making Masindi a better place to live for everyone.

Mission

To mobilize and endow resources for the promotion and facilitation of asset based development so as to enable local citizens establish and manage sustainable social enterprises capable of improving their livelihoods and helping them achieve poverty relief.

Objectives

MCF exists to;

• Establish, promote and maintain sound community-rooted growth funds, to facilitate and promote asset based development as a model that enables communities establish and manage sustainable social enterprises capable of improving their livelihoods and helping them achieve poverty relief.
• Facilitate establishment of saving and loan schemes for social enterprises for sustainability and to enable members access very low interest loans to invest in their enterprises and hence increase income levels.
• Facilitate linkages between social enterprises and prospective markets like agricultural companies, schools and other agencies.
• Work in partnership with other development partners to ensure that key services like extension services, inputs, access to finance and business development services are availed to the social enterprises.
• Engage other development actors like the government to create favorable environment for social enterprises.
• Support through grantmaking initiatives of formally established community based organizations, CBOs directed towards tackling issues which negatively impact on the social enterprises.

MCF’s Business model

Masindi Community Foundation, MCF employs an asset based community driven development approach that helps community groups develop sustainable social enterprises using local resources that already exist in their communities i.e. natural and physical assets like land, buildings; human assets i.e. skills/talents/knowledge and social assets i.e. community groups working for one another; cultural assets i.e. crafts making skills; institutional assets i.e. governmental departments and local government agencies and financial assets i.e. money. MCF then holds annual regular Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, PME workshops together with the community groups to discuss about; what significant changes have happened in their social enterprises since a particular point in time, why the changes were significant, how the changes took place and what decisions to make about future development activity. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, PME workshops help in continuously developing skills of the community groups in operating and improving their social enterprises. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, PME workshops also aid in identifying issues which negatively impact on the social enterprises of the groups; enabling MCF solely or through development partners to take appropriate actions.

Achievements

The foundation has established/works with the following social enterprises among others;

26 charcoal briquette producing social enterprises(farmers producing effective charcoal briquettes from postharvest agricultural wastes which are available in plenty normally after harvest as opposed to the traditional system of deforestation for charcoal production); so as to provide income/capital for the groups. The 26 charcoal briquette social enterprises (each social enterprise containing 25 members) have so far yielded total income of more than Shs. 15,000,000 to the groups. According to each charcoal briquette social enterprise, 60% of the income from the sale of the briquettes is divided equally among the members, 20% is injected into the operational fund, OF to meet the operating costs of the social enterprise and 20% is injected into the Savings Scheme Fund to provide very low interest loans to members of a given social enterprise to set up other personal micro-enterprises like poultry, piggery etc. The foundation offers continuous mentoring and training to the social enterprises during PME to increase their efficiencies in improving livelihoods for poverty relief.

Budongo Basket Weavers Association, BUBWA. BUBWA is an only women-association/social enterprise consisting of 210 women. The social enterprise has been successful in linking her asset of traditional expertise in embroidery to available market opportunities for the baskets provided by hundreds of tourists who flock Budongo forest, one of the key tourist attractions in Uganda to see the various primates, key among them chimpanzees. The foundation facilitated BUBWA with quality embroidery for use in the production of the baskets. We also partnered with a local consultant who helped the women adapt their crafts to be more appealing to the tourists. BUBWA currently earns an average monthly income of between Shs. 50,000-Shs.100, 000 from basket production. According to the social enterprise, 60% of the income from the sale of the crafts is divided equally among the members, 20% is injected into the operational fund, OF to meet the operating costs of the social enterprise and 20% is injected into the Savings Scheme Fund to provide very low interest loans to members of the social enterprise to set up other personal micro-enterprises like apiary, aviary etc. The foundation offers continuous mentoring and training to the social enterprises during PME to increase their efficiencies in improving livelihoods for poverty relief.

A rice-processing centre in Nyabyeya Budongo subcounty. The facility/social enterprise is benefitting 158 rice producers. Here 60% of the income from the sale of the crafts is divided equally among the members, 20% is injected into the operational fund, OF to meet the operating costs of the social enterprise and 20% is injected into the Savings Scheme Fund to provide very low interest loans to members of the social enterprise to set up other personal micro-enterprises like salon, bakery etc. The foundation offers continuous mentoring and training to the social enterprises during PME to increase their efficiencies in improving livelihoods for poverty relief.

A maize-processing facility in Kigezi, Miirya subcounty. The facility has brought milling services closer to the people, while doing so at a reduced fee. The income obtained from the milling services is injected into the community’s savings box which shall then provide small interest loans to community members to establish sustainable micro-enterprises capable of improving their livelihoods towards achieving poverty relief.

Measure of impact

MCF’s measure of impact is the total monthly income obtained by the community members. Currently 1,518 people earn average monthly income of atleast Shs. 5,000,000 from our interventions.

Strategic Objective

Our strategic objective is to create 40,000 sustainable social enterprises to improve livelihoods and ensure poverty relief for atleast 800,000 impoverished people in Masindi region by the year 2020.