Hilti Foundation, Hand in Hand announce major recovery project
From coronavirus to climate change, poverty to food security, humanity’s greatest challenges prove that we, the global family, depend on each other.
Now, a new partnership between The Hilti Foundation, Hand in Hand International and thousands of smallholder farmers across East Africa proves that when our global family comes together, no challenge is too big to overcome.
Launching this month thanks to a US $4.2 million investment from the Hilti Foundation, the three-year project aims to reach 24,000 farmers across Kenya and Tanzania, creating almost 17,000 enterprises and 22,000 jobs. Members will be trained to run some of the most profitable agri-businesses in the region, then recruited into its most robust value chains, helping them rebuild from coronavirus and stay thriving for years to come.
Focusing on dairy, poultry and high-margin produce, the project is the second between Hand in Hand and The Hilti Foundation, bringing the overall number of farmers reached by the partnership to 40,000. Changes to women’s decision-making power in the home will be measured. And climate-resilient practices such as topsoil regeneration, biodiversity and rainwater harvesting will be emphasised throughout.
“The Hilti Foundation was committed to expanding our partnership with Hand in Hand before the outbreak of Covid-19. In the context of the global pandemic, our program in Eastern Africa has become even more relevant: enabling smallhold enterprises in rural areas to grow into flourishing businesses creates economic and social development for entire regions.” said Werner Wallner, The Hilti Foundation CEO.
Dorothea Arndt, CEO of Hand in Hand International, said: “Covid-19 is already leaving a global economic crisis in its wake. As we switch from saving lives to saving livelihoods, organisations like Hand in Hand will be crucial in leading the recovery. And strategic partners like The Hilti Foundation, committed to creating opportunities for people to take their lives into their own hands, will be more important than ever before.”
For more information about the project, please contact Senior Partnerships and Project Officer Dan Browne.
By the numbers
24,000 smallolder farmers
17,000 enterprises
22.000 jobs
Research: coronavirus fuels food security crisis in Afghanistan
Spent savings, sold assets and a high and growing dependence on food aid. That’s the picture for thousands of families in north Afghanistan according to new, original research from Hand in Hand.
The findings underscore reports from the IPC and others that that conflict, joblessness and coronavirus are combining to plunge the country into crisis, with 11 million Afghans – more than a third of the population – now classified as acutely food insecure.
Conducted earlier this month, the survey asked community leaders from eight villages in Balkh Province how coronavirus was hitting their communities. The findings will help guide Hand in Hand’s efforts as we move from delivering soap, chlorine, face masks and virus prevention to training to 65,000 vulnerable people in the north of the country, to helping our members lead the economic recovery and remain food secure.
Most residents in the villages we surveyed have been forced from their homes by Taliban violence, and today live in tents provided by the UN. Others are returnees from surrounding countries. The vast majority, 80 percent, were considered poor and vulnerable even before the coronavirus brought the economy to a halt.
Here, according to our research, is where they stand today:
- Most households depend on short-term day labour, which has completely dried up due to lockdowns.
- Many male household members (parents, youth) have migrated to Iran and Turkey looking for work.
- Dependency on food aid is high. Resources are extremely limited. As settlements rather than camps, these areas fall outside of humanitarian aid, and government support programmes are very short term.
- Most households have used up savings and are selling key assets such as livestock to feed themselves.
- Women are especially vulnerable: domestic violence has increased in many households, as have the risks of robbery in households where male members have migrated.
Hand in Hand wants to help thousands more women and their families stand up to Afghanistan’s food crisis by joining the country’s poultry value chain and producing and selling eggs.
Requiring little space and operational from home, poultry farming is ideal during a lockdown. And because most chickens are imported from outside Afghanistan, it’s one of the few value chains in the country whose worth has actually increased since March. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s a direct source of nutrition for women and their families at an incredibly precarious time.
To find out how you can help, contact Hand in Hand. Or you can donate today.
Training resumes in Kenya, Afghanistan
Hand in Hand’s business and skills training is starting to gradually return, two months after coronavirus lockdown measures put projects on hold. The move allows staff to test new ways of delivering training in line with Covid-19 safety rules, working closely with local officials in Afghanistan and Kenya.
Although cases are climbing in both countries, worries around the economy and food security have compelled governments to invite Hand in Hand and other NGOs back to work.
Kenya
Staff are back to work in all 26 of our branches, reaching out to local officials to announce our return. In most cases, we’re being asked to resume training immediately.
In line with government regulations, Self-Help Group meetings have been cut in half to 10 participants, separated by two to three steps, significantly slowing delivery. All meetings are taking place outside.
We’ve also imposed an additional rule of our own: no meeting can take place unless everyone present is wearing a face mask and all have washed their hands to start the meeting. In the event members don’t have these items, we’re providing them ourselves.
Training is being delivered with specific reference to coronavirus, signposting members to new suppliers and opportunities such as making masks and soap.
Afghanistan
Efforts in Afghanistan have been similarly far-reaching, with training back up and running in most branches countrywide.
Just like in Kenya strict safety measures apply, ranging from reduced group sizes and social distancing of at least 1.5 metres between members to mandatory handwashing and face-covering. Members who require safety items receive them, and to the fullest extent possible training is happening outside.
In a country where a third of people face food shortages as a result of coronavirus, projects that boost food security are a particular priority. In Samangan province, work is gearing up to help 350 families onto the poultry value chain, providing vital nutrition to their families and communities.
As in Kenya, reduced group sizes are slowing programme delivery.
Coronavirus response ongoing
At the same time as our regular projects gear back up, Hand in Hand’s emergency coronavirus response is moving full-steam ahead. In Kenya, we reached more than 10,000 members via mobile and SMS with messages about health and safety, sourcing seedlings and crops, and adapting their businesses to make face masks and soap during the month of May. In Afghanistan, we’re on track to provide more than 65,000 people with life-saving health messages, chlorine and soap by the end of June.
Hand in Hand reaches thousands in Kenya with coronavirus advice
Last month, as lockdown measures, curfews and strict social distancing laws brought Kenya to a halt, Hand in Hand traded Self-Help Groups for SMS’, motorbikes for mobile phones, setting out to reach more than 85,000 members with handwashing guidelines and other health messages, signpost to vital health services, and counter fake news.
At the same time, we were determined to empower our members to lead the fight against the coronavirus in their communities, providing advice on how to produce soap and masks, boosting food security by pointing rural members to alternative sources of seedlings and crops, and making sure far-flung communities get their messages to distant government officials.
One month later, as outreach ramps up across 21 counties, we’re able to report our progress for the very first time. From 13 April to 10 May, the latest period for which data are available, our trainers reached:
45,417 members with handwashing guidelines and other health messages
14,666 members providing links to new sources of seedlings and crops
11,104 members with advice on adapting businesses, selling face masks and soap
Face masks made and sold by the Uwezo Wema Self-Help Group.
Uwezo Wema, a Self-Help Group based in Babadogo, Nairobi County was one of the first to be contacted by trainers.
“The usual products we used to sell the pre-Corona period – shopping bags, playing balls and sandals – are no longer in high demand,” says Rhoda, the group’s Chair. “In order to survive we were forced to be creative and come up with a different business idea. Now we’re selling masks and sanitiser, which Hand in Hand taught us how to make. Our income is down from what is used to be, but we are thankful that at least we can make something during such a difficult time.”
Why women and girls are vulnerable to coronavirus
Although the risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19 is greater among men and the elderly, women in the developing world face unique challenges that shouldn’t be ignored. In this article, Hand in Hand Programme Development Manager Isabel Creixell explains how women are being affected – and what Hand in Hand is doing to help them.
Livelihoods
Women are traditional caregivers: when a family member gets sick, it’s their job to step in. First and foremost, this puts them at greater risk of infection. But even in cases when they don’t fall ill, the burden of household work can increase exponentially, particularly at a time when children are home from school. Parents all over the world have been struggling with a version of this, and in many cases feeling completely overwhelmed. Now imagine if you also had to walk miles every day to fetch water, plus do the chores and shopping yourself, all while tending to the smallholding that’s keeping your family from starving and, in many cases, trying to run a small business on the side. Something’s got to give, and when a family member or members fall ill that thing is almost always the business – and in many cases the farm.
Hunger
Women working as unpaid nurses don’t have time to be unpaid farmers. In households where men don’t share the burden (most of them, in rural settings) and virtually 100 percent of female-headed households, health crises can turn to hunger crises, quick.
Across our operating countries – right now – there are women who don’t have the time to grow food because of coronavirus and don’t have the savings to buy it. Those who do have savings will be running out soon. At the same time, women are more likely than men to work in the informal economy, meaning they lack social protections like insurance or sick paid leave. Their capacity to absorb shocks, in other words, can be effectively non-existent.
Finally, and maybe most starkly, when economic pressures and food shortages visit rural households, tradition often dictates that women and girls eat least and last.
Gender-based violence
Increases in gender-based violence during lockdown have rightly caught our attention here in the developed world. The developing world, where rates of violence against women are significantly higher, deserves our attention too.
Let’s not forget that things could get worse, not better, as the lockdown lifts and the true extent of our economic crisis begins to dawn. If isolation is one cause of gender-based violence, stress and financial difficulties are two more. At a time when every spare penny will have gone to buying food, escaping violent relationships will be more difficult than ever.
Health
Health services can be universally lacking in the countries where we work. But even when they’re available women face unique challenges in accessing them. In some communities, restrictive norms keep women from travelling alone. In others’, doctors won’t see them unless their husband – who could well be ill with Covid-19 – is present at the appointment.
How Hand in Hand is helping
Long-term plans to help women weather the coming economic storm are being developed by our programmes teams now.
In the more immediate term, we’ve already taken measures to protect our women members. These include:
- Reaching women that official health guidance hasn’t, typically via their Self-Help Group leaders, to spread information about social distancing, handwashing and other virus prevention measures.
- Providing opportunities to talk about domestic abuse. Although they’re stuck in their homes, some women find that simply having a space to talk about their situation can benefit their mental health. When the lockdown is over, we can more actively direct them to support services.
- Providing information about keeping their businesses running, from how to produce items such as soap and masks to boosting food security by pointing rural members to alternative sources of seedlings and crops.
- Working with men, who make up roughly 20 percent of our members, to share information about the benefits of sharing household tasks.
- Reaching men with targeted messages about coping mechanisms, and providing someone to talk to, in order to reduce the incidence of domestic abuse.
95% of Hand in Hand members report improved quality of life
From designing new projects to evaluating old ones, Hand in Hand puts our members at the centre of everything we do. So last year, we asked 60 Decibels – experts in measuring impact through a “customer feedback lens” – to find out what our members in Kenya are saying about our work.
For two weeks in November, the team at 60 Decibels interviewed more than 170 members who’d completed our training, all within the last two years.
Here’s what they had to say:
- Hand in Hand’s training is useful. 95 percent of respondents were still using it in their business.
- Hand in Hand’s training improves people’s lives. 95 percent saw improvements in their quality of life after completing our training. Bigger incomes were the main reason why.
- Hand in Hand goes where other NGOs don’t. 92 percent of respondents said there was no alternative to Hand in Hand where they lived.
- Given a choice, they prefer Hand in Hand. Among respondents who had an alternative, 85 percent said Hand in Hand was better.
- They could use more credit. Asked for suggested improvement, 34 percent of respondents suggested increased financing, the most common of any response.
Conducted before the threat of coronavirus was known, the survey will nevertheless help us tailor our post-Covid-19 response, providing insight into what’s working for our members and where we can be of more help. More on that in weeks in and months to come.
Hand in Hand named charity partner for Legal Awards
Hand in Hand International has been named Charity Partner for the Legal Business Awards, the most prestigious and highly respected awards on the legal calendar.
Funds raised during the 23rd ceremony, tentatively on 30 September at London’s Grosvenor House hotel, will go towards training new members who need our help most.
“Hand in Hand International has trained millions of women to run their own micro businesses and create jobs in some of the poorest parts of the world . Earning an income so you can fix the roof when it’s leaking, send your children to school and put food on the table is something everyone here can understand. We are proud to stand as their partners,” said John Pritchard, Chairman of The Legal Business.
Dorothea Arndt, CEO of Hand in Hand International, said: “Now more than ever, as the world is still reeling from the effect of the global pandemic, the generosity of partners like The Legal Business is enabling us to do life-changing work. On behalf of women entrepreneurs overcoming the odds, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, thank you.”
This year’s Legal Business Awards, which celebrate the best in the legal profession, are being hosted by Rt Hon Lord William Hague, Former UK Foreign Secretary, Leader of the House of Commons and MP for Richmond.
Organisers are monitoring Covid-19 public health advice and will take all necessary and recommended actions.
Hand in Hand Afghanistan steps up fight against Covid-19
Hand in Hand is delivering soap, chlorine solution and crucial virus prevention training to 26,000 Afghans as the country braces for a Covid-19 crisis that could become “another Wuhan” without immediate action.
Launched on Sunday 5 April, the emergency response came just days after Afghan officials appealed to NGOs for help, targeting 4,000 hard-to-reach households in Herat, Balkh and Parwan Provinces.
“We consider it our duty to inform people about methods of prevention,” says Zahra, a Hand in Hand trainer on the frontlines of our response. “We can save lives.”
An uncertain world
In a world where so much is uncertain, Afghans have reason to be especially concerned. Every day, thousands of returnees pour across the border from Iran, one of the early epicentres of the virus, fleeing both the economic devastation wrought by Covid-19 and the virus itself. It’s impossible to know how many are bringing it with them, but public health officials here are worried.
“We fear that Herat will turn into another Wuhan,” Afghanistan’s national health minister, Ferozuddin Feroz, told reporters in late-March. Add to that the country’s depleted health system, which struggles to keep up even at the best of times, and prevention is the only hope.
For as long as that hope remains, Hand in Hand will do everything in our power to protect our members and their neighbours. That’s why we’re urgently appealing for your help to nearly triple our impact, reaching 70,000 more Afghans – most of them living in camps for the internally displaced – with soap, chlorine solution and virus prevention training. With your help we can save lives. But we have to act now.
Hope remains
A day’s travel away in Balkh Province, Hand in Hand member Sharifa has worries of her own. The 24-year-old was among the first to receive virus prevention training from Hand in Hand in the earliest days of the outbreak, before the government’s response kicked in. In an area without adequate health services, she says, that training could be her community’s only defence.
“There is a health centre in our village that cannot do anything about Coronavirus and a hospital in the district with very few facilities, no capacity and no equipment for testing,” says the mother of four young children.
For precisely that reason, she says, Hand in Hand’s training on how to keep safe “has brought me peace of mind. Thank you to the supporters of Hand in Hand. Please know you are giving us hope.”
Afghanistan recorded its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on 24 February. Within weeks, Hand in Hand trainers were instructing members – many living in remote areas that public health messages don’t always reach – on virus prevention measures including handwashing, social distancing and more.
With your help, we’ll…
Reach almost 100,000 Afghans
Provide 14,000 households with 6 bars of soap, a bottle of chlorine solution and one spray-pump each
Train every household in handwashing, social distancing, disinfecting surfaces and more
Hand in Hand fights spread of Covid-19 in Afghanistan
Hand in Hand Afghanistan is joining the fight against Covid-19, sharing virus prevention guidelines with families in some of the hardest-to-reach areas in the country.
Lessons in handwashing, social distancing and more have appeared alongside our usual business and skills training since the start of last week, when the country reported its earliest cases.
Other measures taken so far include:
- Limiting training sessions to three to five members as opposed to the usual 20 to 30.
- Wherever possible, conducting training in members’ homes.
- In some projects, distributing livestock and chickens slightly ahead of schedule. In the event of a lockdown, chicken eggs in particular will be a vital source of nutrition. Besides, we don’t want members’ training to go to waste.
- Prioritising training modules that will do the most good during a crisis (for now, marketing takes a backseat to poultry farming, for example).
Forty cases of Covid-19 and one death have been reported in Afghanistan as of 23 March. Home to one of our biggest projects in the country, Herat Province is the epicentre of the outbreak, with most cases arriving from neighbouring Iran where thousands of Afghans are employed. Cases are expected to jump as more people return from Iran every day.
Visit our Covid updates page for the latest information on our programmes in Afghanistan and beyond.
A message from Hand in Hand International Chair Bruce Grant
In times of crisis, the vulnerable suffer most.
For now, it is the physically vulnerable who need our care and attention. But let’s not forget that one day in the not-too-distant future, it will be the economically vulnerable whose voices cry out loudest. Just as fighting the spread of Covid-19 requires every one of us to do our part today, so too will helping the world’s poorest people bounce back from the collapse of global markets require total, concerted resolve tomorrow.
As Chair of Hand in Hand International, let me be unequivocal: our global network will be ready to lead the fight. Even as programmes in some parts of the network have been forced to press pause, others are being modified to spread crucial virus prevention guidelines to some of the hardest-to-reach corners of the world. Behind the scenes, work on digitising our fieldwork and building new programmes that raise incomes even higher continues apace.
As Executive Chairman of the Applied Value Group and someone with decades of business experience, I would add that, even now, the philanthropic community must remember our incredible privilege and duty to pay it forward. Now is an exceptionally difficult time for everyone, but it’s also a time to reflect on the things that truly matter to us: family, friends and helping the most vulnerable. Let’s use this opportunity to make the world a better place – something Applied Value is doing by committing to increase our CSR pledges this year despite a forecasted drop in profitability.
To Hand in Hand’s donors and partners, we say thank you for continued support. Our team will have already reached out to you individually, and you’ll be hearing much more from us in the coming days and weeks. To our field staff in Afghanistan, East Africa and India we say thank you for working so hard through such incredible adversity. And to our members in every corner of our network, we say this: no matter where you are, no matter what it takes, we promise to help get you back on your feet – and after that, up the ladder.
Yesterday, as coronavirus deaths in my home country the United States surpassed 100, lawmakers announced $1 trillion in spending to help see Americans through. Imagine a world where we could find instant bilateral support for spending the same on micro-entrepreneurship, drilling for clean water and fighting malaria in the developing world.
Wishing you and yours health, safety and calm,
Bruce Grant
Chair, Hand in Hand International
Executive Chairman, Applied Value Group