Micro-Enterprise Development
There are many highly motivated, independent, hard-working people in Africa who are not able to succeed because they lack the capital needed to initiate their opportunity. Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) is an effort to equip entrepreneurial-oriented people with the start-up capital to pursue their ideas. In Africa, dairy is a major part of the diet. If a household doesn’t own a cow or goat, they must buy milk from the store every week, creating a major fixed expense. Purchasing these animals is quite expensive for households with large families and a meager income. In Kenya, ELI’s “Have a Cow” program began to help families obtain these animals. Essentially ELI “loans” a dairy cow to a family who is responsible to take care of that cow until she gives birth to a calf. The calf is given back to the organization as payment for the mature adult. If the cow is properly cared for, it should produce enough milk for the family to have all that they need as well as some left over to sell to the market and generate income. In D.R. Congo, goats are used instead of cows, but the same principles apply.
ELI understands that, just as in the U.S., not everybody in Africa has the personal characteristics to be a profitable and successful entrepreneur. Job creation is also an important part of breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa. It is a dream of ELI to assist in creating jobs in Africa through market access and the establishment of for-profit businesses. They are continually exploring opportunities in these areas with the goal of stimulating the African economy to create sustainability for overseas projects without unhealthy dependency on U.S. donations. Economic development is not going to break the cycle of poverty in Africa on its own, but it is an important piece to the holistic strategy of the work of ELI.