Microfinances in Africa- Ending poverty.

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services.

More broadly, it is a movement whose object is "a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers." Those who promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty.

Several factors have led to increased interest in microcredit in promoting growth with greater equity. There has been a growth in the recognition of the importance of empowering all people by increasing their access to all the factors of production, including credit. In addition, the value of the role of non-governmental organizations in development is receiving more attention.

It is in that context that microcredit has recently assumed a certain degree of prominence. It is based on the recognition that the latent capacity of the poor for entrepreneurship would be encouraged with the availability of small-scale loans and would introduce them to the small-enterprise sector. This could allow them to be more self-reliant, create employment opportunities, and, not least, engage women in economically productive activities. Currently, there are estimated to be about 3,000 microfinance institutions in developing countries. These institution also help create deeper and more widespread financial markets in those countries.

Informal and small-scale lending arrangements have long existed in many parts of the world, especially in the rural areas, and they still survive. Good examples are schemes in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria ("merry-go-rounds", "esusus" etc.). They provide the rural population with access to savings within the local area and with a certain cushion against economic fluctuations, and they encourage a cooperative and community feeling. The groups formed provide joint collateral and serve as instruments for spreading valuable information that is useful for economic and social progress.

These schemes are characterized by relatively small loans, a few hundred dollars at most. The repayment period is relatively short, about a year or so. Women are a major beneficiary of their activities, and the destination of the funds primarily includes agriculture, distribution, trading, small craft and processing industries. The administrative structure is generally light and the entire process is participatory in nature. The impact of microcredit lending varies widely between rural areas and urban areas.

In many developing countries, overall interest rates are relatively high to begin with, so that rates charged by micro lending schemes are quite high when the risk premium is added. Many of these micro-institutions claim a high rate of repayment. This is attributable to the informal participatory structures, which create an atmosphere in which debtors respect their obligations.

Over the past decade, microfinance institutions have adopted innovative ways of providing credit and savings services to the entrepreneurial poor. Two approaches have been advocated on the role of credit in poverty reduction. While supporters of the income-generation approach maintain that credit should be provided mainly to the entrepreneurial poor to enable them to finance specific private income-generating activities to increase their revenues, proponents of the so-called new minimalist approach argue that credit progammes would still be helping the poor fight poverty by giving credit to any poor person who is able to repay a loan without dictating to that person how and on what the loan should be used. Some studies have pointed out that the problem of the non-productive use of credit, as advocated by the minimalist approach, lies in the fact that by consuming rather than investing their loans, the actions of such borrowers, if imitated by other poor people, could produce a negative impact on the future growth of microcredit.

In Africa group organizing has proven itself an effective strategy for MFI sustainability that Africans are especially
predisposed. Group formation for individual and community goals is a pre-existing,"homogeneous" mode of organization in Africa that already operates in traditional financial schemes and is readily adaptable to new microfinance initiatives. The group has proven especially effective in the rural setting, where 80% of Africa's population reside. The relative isolation, small size, and common resources of villages engenders a mentality and
approach to problems that are seen as mutual rather than individual.

In Africa, women are a better credit-risk than men and more responsible managers of meager resources. Furthermore, they are more committed to using their loans for the benefit of their household rather than self-gratifying
consumption (as common among men). The most compelling reason for MFIs to prioritize women is to assist the poorest, who are disproportionately women.

The Group of Common Initiative of the Women Farmers of Bogso (GICPAB) utilizestraditional group practices to empower members and enhance the village community. Referred to as the Yum, this group methodology initially focused on improving cassava production,processing, transportation, and marketing, enabling members to work together to save time,reduce costs, and to share resources, infrastructure, and knowledge. Gradually, the Yum scaled up to other activities, including school and library construction, establishing a village market,and operating a school canteen. The Yum now extends into microfinance initiatives, including a credit line for GICPAB members with a child or grandchild registered at the local school to obtain a loan for school fees, books, meals, and other needs to ensure that within three years all village children will attend primary school. A credit line has also been provided for primary health care. The success of these microfinance programs rests in the traditional group practices embodied in the Yum, which uses the local proverb, “You can’t wrap a gift box with just one hand.”

Microfinance and microenterprise are critically linked; microenterprise development is an essential extension of microfinance schemes. If microfinance is to have a sustainable impact on poverty eradication, it must eventually scale-up into creating a private sector of entrepreneurs who function in the formal economy. In other words, microfinance has the potential of formalizing the informal sector, empowering micro-entrepreneurs to participate and benefit from the formal economy.Microfinance can support initiative for direct supply and market linkages to small and
medium businesses targeting promising micro-entrepreneurs in non-traditional, low volume but high value-added products in potential niche growth areas of the economy. Such an approach could reach existing micro-entrepreneurs who are seeking to graduate from the survivalist profile of microenterprises into a more secure and productive foothold of the formal sector of the economy. It would expose microenterprises to larger enterprises "higher up the chain", encouraging forward and backward linkages with established companies. Targeted microentrepreneurs
can potentially develop, produce, and perhaps market low-volume but higher profit products, expand, and take on additional employees, thus scaling-up.

This potential, however, is contingent upon a supportive environment at all level and among all actors, supporting business incubation and expansion. For example, at the local level, regulation and standards among MFIs and their respective microenterprises can lend legitimacy to these initiatives, while networking among MFIs can provide a lobby platform to propel enterprises stemming from microfinance into the formal economy. MFIs can work together to ensure that Governments and donors do not support organizations that undermine the market for microfinance services and microenterprises by subsidizing loans.


In many cases, an effective infrastructure for microfinance exists within public agencies, such as the postal system.
Postal Savings Banks offer an important comparative advantage in geographical coverage for both rural and urban outreach.
Promote Networking and Cooperation: National and international actors should reinforce cooperation and coordination among actors at all levels in the design, management, and assessment of microfinance initiatives. Mechanisms should be created for the exchange of knowledge and experience among African microfinance practitioners, including the use of the Internet, dissemination of written material, field level practitioner exchanges, and best practice workshops. Regional coordinating committees and sub-regional conferences can bring together microfinance policy makers, leaders, and representatives from bilateral, multilateral and intergovernmental development partners to access and compare microfinance progress. Coordination among various microfinance actors also ensures complimentary rather than competing policies.

Sources: United Nations Capital Development Fund, Microfinance and Anti-Poverty Strategies
Marguerite Robinson. The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor World Bank, Washington, 2001
United Nations Department of Economic Affairs and United Nations Capital Development Fund. Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for Development. United Nations, New York, 2006.

Compiled by Nyambura Mundia

Since it will not go away,lets talk about it-HOMOSEXUALITY in Africa.

More often than not, when homosexuality is brought up in an African context,it is dismissed as imported from the white man's land,hence;many homosexuals in Africa continue to live in denial of their sexual orientation in fear of being victimized by their families, friends and communities.
There is a trend of blame among communities,never allowing themselves to admit to or take responsibility of their own masses.

Especially where Western influences (notably Christian and Marxist) have been
pervasive, there is now a belief that homosexuality is a decadent, bourgeois Western
innovation forced upon colonial Africa by white men, or, alternately by Islamic slave traders.
Around the world, people view homosexuality as a vice of some other people.
Thus, the recurrent British claim Norman conquerors introduced homosexuality to the British Isles. Various French accounts view homosexuality as Italian, Bulgarian, or North African. Italians accept only the latter two homelands. Bulgarians attribute greater popularity and/or the origins of homosexuality to Albanians, and Albanians in turn to Turks. Similarly eastern Bantu claimed that pederasty was imported by the Nubians (Schneider 1885:295-6), Sudanese blame Turkish marauders(Weine 1848:120), etc.

Such views tell us something about perceived ethnic boundaries,but nothing about the origins or the historical transmission of cultural traits. The belief by many Africans that homosexuality is exogenous to the history of their people is a belief with genuine social consequences -- in particular stigmatization for those of their people engaged in homosexual behavior or grappling with gay identities. These beliefs are not, however, based on serious inquiry, historical or otherwise.

There is also a widely held belief that homosexuality is sparked by cultural forces rampantly promoted by popular media. Some are of the view that it is a lifestyle one adopts because of their preference.
While homosexuality has gained acceptance in some parts of the world; it remains a problem to many, especially in Africa.

The most recent which was the killing of the Ugandan gay and activist David Kato which has ignited a reactive space among lawmakers and respective masses.In Zambia, social attitudes towards homosexuals are marred with mostly negative and coloured by perceptions that homosexuality is immoral and a form of insanity. In 1999, Zambia Against People with Abnormal Sexual Acts (ZAPASA), a NGO combating homosexuality and homosexuals in that country, was formed. This was in addition to Zambia’s constitutional prohibition of same sex relationships in the penal code.

The capital question however still remains; is homosexuality a choice or is it something inborn? A study by S. LeVay, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, found that there are differences between homosexual and heterosexual men, suggesting that homosexuality is genetical. In homosexual men, the cluster of cells in the hypothalamus was seen to be smaller than in heterosexual men. LeVay’s finding proved controversial because it represented a small sample and he himself acknowledged the inconclusiveness of his findings. However, this remains the shield that gays and lesbians use to protect themselves against those who criticise their sexual orientation.

In countries like Kenya and majorly South Africa that attracts massive homosexual pride marches,the Constitution, does not give the State the right to unfairly discriminate anyone on one or more grounds, including gender, sex and sexual orientation. It is not surprising that South Africa became the first African country to endorse same-sex marriages, following in the footsteps of Canada, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Sweden.

However, the much-reported murder of the two Soweto lesbians, Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Massoa, in July 2007, was a reminder that despite their acceptance, homosexuals are still not tolerated by the majority. Their killing also reminded us that the country has a long way to go in educating its citizens on homosexuality.
Torture, detention and inhuman treatment of homosexuals is tantamount to the violation of their right to liberty and security. Most of these rights are enshrined in the treaties that most countries signed and ratified. However, the same countries continue to take away these rights in the guise of protecting morality.
In relation to HIV and AIDS, this group is evidently left out in structures and systems that provided the needed social support,evidently making them more vulnerable to the disease and the stigma collectively.

On a writers note,I say,learnt or inborn, like other social disorders our attitude towards homosexuals should be that of corrective and not punitive measures.

REFERENCES:Contemporary Africa by Stephen O. Murray
SANGONET PULSE
BBC NEWS-AFRICA

By Nyambura Mundia.

LITERACY RATES IN AFRICA

Poverty and illiteracy in Africa are both at extremely high levels. Four of five Africans earn less than $2 (US) per day; half try to survive on less than 1 dollar per day. 21 nations have adult literacy rates below 50% and overall 4 of every 10 Africans (two-thirds of them women) are illiterate. Achieving higher rates of literacy is a vital part of the effort to eradicate African poverty but the relationship between the two is complex, because the effects of poverty are a major obstacle to literacy.

The situation is desperate for some who cannot afford to feed their families and who are surviving under conditions of famine. It is understandable that learning to read and write is not high on the list of priorities for such people.

The first impediment to literacy is the widespread poverty, few parents can afford to send their children to school. Raising literacy rates depends on governments and NGOs making schools and programs for adult education available. Some governments are making a real effort to improve literacy. However, many government officials are either indifferent (or corrupt), give education a low priority, or the government efforts are poorly organized and implemented. Non-governmental organizations can help, but they must depend on local governments to step up and become a partner, rather than an obstacle to progress.

Efforts to combat literacy are further hampered by ill-considered government policies and priorities,leaving education programs to fit into miscellaneous budgets,this leaves their public chronically short of teachers,schools and learning facilities.
In some regions the situation is out hand, the endemic tribal warfare and civil wars make sustaining an educational system impossible. The violence frequently includes destruction of schools and displacement of communities.

In contrast, some have discovered that education has been the gateway to eradicating poverty, giving some families a means to earn enough to care for themselves and their extended families. This has a positive effect on communities and countries as literacy opens doors for people who would otherwise be excluded from normal society. The need for education does not necessarily involve higher learning but something as simple as learning to read and write. Basic tuition in the "three Rs" is often all that is required to open up the opportunity for people to take the first step toward eradicating poverty.

While the priority in education will always focus on children, there is a real need for adult education in Africa in the quest to rid the continent of poverty and other problems. Many adults have lived a very basic life in communities where education was considered as unnecessary as they struggled to keep their families alive with the necessary food and water. Now they are being encouraged to look further than their local communities as they are helped to see how literacy could be a major step forward for future generations.

As literacy increases in African countries, the level of employment also increases, giving communities a basis to progress economically. Creating a strong economy through increased education may not eradicate poverty completely, but it will go a long way to relieving the seriousness of the problem.

Another benefit of literacy in African communities is the power it gives people to educate themselves in a practical way that will improve their living conditions. literate communities are more equipped to deal with life issues,productive health,entrepreneurship skills and governance integration are areas they are able to be engaged in,eradicating other development drawbacks.

Ninety-five percent of the world’s illiterate people live in developing countries, and about 70 percent are women. Female illiteracy rates are particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Niger and Burkina Faso, for example, more than 90 percent of women are illiterate.
In Kenya, women literacy learners may find it difficult to sustain their interest in literacy learning because of: their multiple responsibilities; having to operate in environments not particularly conducive to learning; having to contend with professionally unqualified teachers; their limited exposure to reading materials and other learning aids; their very limited mastery of the two languages of official communication in Kenya; as well as the fact that the literacy programme is mainly administered by men.
Another consequence of illiteracy on women is the pressure put upon the population dynamics because of family size. Literate women average 2 children per family while illiterate women give birth to 6–8 children.

Literacy then, especially in a language a woman understands, ought to make a difference in her life and consequently in the life of her family.
Note the following information supportive to this issue:

* educated women are more likely to use health clinics and return to the clinic if their children's health does not improve.
* educated women tend to begin their families at a later age and have fewer, healthier children.
* a 1% rise in women's literacy is 3 times more likely to reduce deaths in children than a 1% rise in the number of doctors. (Based upon a United Nations study of 46 countries.)
* for women, 4 to 6 years of education led to a 20% drop in infant deaths (Based on the same UN study mentioned above.)
* women with more education generally have better personal health and nutrition.
* the families of women with some education tend to have better housing, clothing, income, water, and sanitation.

Raising literacy rates in the community contributes to reducing crime. Increasing of school safety in South Africa has increased literacy levels and consequently reducing crime levels.
Through correctional education, prisoners develop the academic, technical and social skills they need to assimilate into society. Incarcerated people who do not participate in education programs find it almost impossible to find a job when released into society. As a result, they are more likely to commit a crime yet again.
Zimbabwe has overtaken Tunisia to become the country with the highest literacy rate in Africa, according to statistics from the latest UNDP Digest.
Kenya and a handful of other countries are committed to offering free basic education,against the limited development fund baskets.

Though literacy is not the only way to eradicate poverty,it is surely a steady way to approach the development draw backs that drag many African nations into this predicament.

References. UNICEF statistics
info.worldbank.org


BY : NYAMBURA MUNDIA

BLOOD DONATION AND AIDS PREVALENCE IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA

It has been estimated that 5–10% of HIV transmission in Africa is by contaminated blood transfusions.If a person receives a blood transfusion with HIV-infected blood, there is a 95 percent risk they will become infected with the virus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) outlines a number of recommendations which countries should follow to maintain a safe and constant blood supply. These steps prevent transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI), which include HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis, passing from a blood donor to the recipient of a blood transfusion.According to the recommendations countries need:

* A nationally coordinated blood transfusion service
* Voluntary unpaid donors
* To test all donated blood
* To use blood efficiently and appropriately
* To ensure a safe transfusion practice
* To have a quality systems check throughout the blood transfusion process.

The roll-out of widespread safety measures such as donor selection and screening guidelines makes the risk of HIV transmission today virtually non-existent in developed countries.However, where guidelines for blood safety have not been implemented or are not followed, HIV infection continues to be a risk associated with blood transfusions.
Though efforts to achieve these measures are sought after,developing countries still struggle towards these goals,majorly because there is heavy reliance on foreign donor agencies inhibiting centralized structures that facilitate national blood policies.
Testing for transfusion transmissible diseases would be more effective in a centralized regional laboratory, where economies of scale would make
testing cheaper.
A key aspect of ensuring a safe blood supply is the screening and counselling of donors to limit the number of people infected with HIV from donating.
Voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors are those who donate on their own accord without coercion or incentives, such as money.
The recommendation by WHO to only use this type of donor was first made in 1975 in the form of the World Health Assembly resolution 28.72.These donors are sought after because they are more likely to be donating for altruistic reasons rather than for any personal gain.When an individual needs a donation and a family member steps forward to donate blood they are referred to as a 'family/replacement' donor.

However, like paid donors, this type of donor often leads to higher number of HIV-infected blood donations. In many countries paid donors and family blood donors continue to make up a large percent of blood donations
The process of screening donors involves asking a series of questions about the donors' lifestyle to ensure individuals who participate in risky behavior, such as Injection Drug Users, or those who fall into a group which has a high-HIV prevalence, such as men who have sex with men, do not donate blood.


Testing 'algorithms' are a sequence of specific tests, or assays, which are organised to create a certain HIV testing strategy.These must take into consideration the resources, infrastructure and staff expertise available in different countries so the specified algorithms are always followed, to ensure consistency in the testing of blood.

Initial HIV testing uses antibody tests to detect antibodies to HIV in the blood. As the virus becomes established the body makes increasing amounts of antibodies. However, it can take between 3 weeks and 3 months after initial infection before an individual produces antibodies and HIV is detectable. This gap is known as the window period and blood donations infected with HIV screened with antibody tests at this time may not be detected.

However, other tests exist to further reduce this window period, such as p24 antigen tests, which screen for proteins attached to the HIV infected cell and nucleic acid testing (NAT), which screen for the genetic material of HIV.These tests reduce the window period down to about 12 days. It is because these 12 days remain that donor screening and counselling is still important to further reduce the chance of a person infected with HIV giving blood.

The NAT test is particularly important where prevalence is high as the number of window period donations are more likely. However, HIV prevalence is often highest in poorer countries and unfortunately NAT tests are expensive and therefore these countries usually only have antibody tests. The chance that an HIV-infected donation will not be detected is therefore greater in these countries.

In 2009 blood screened for HIV in Greater Accra, Ghana amounted to 33,294 units of blood, of which 3.68 percent was found to be HIV positive.Ghana tests 100 percent of its blood donations, however this is done using only antibody tests. Therefore the window period remains a significant interval, which suggests some units may continue to pass through screening undetected.

Grave Shortage
Blood supplies in Africa have never been able to meet the demand; this is reflected in the high maternal and child mortality rates in the continent.Hemorrhage and anemia account for a large proportion of maternal deaths; many of these could be prevented by provision of good obstetric services and an adequate blood supply.

Malaria is the major contributor to deaths of children under 5 years and it has been shown that children with malarial anemia (hemoglobin,5 g/dl) are at risk of dying if there is delay in getting blood for transfusion.11–13 The number of cases presenting with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral treatment in recent years has also placed an
additional burden on the blood supplies.It is questionable whether hospital based family replacement blood banks are ever going to be able to maintain adequate blood supplies to meet these needs.There is also clear evidence that a strictly volunteer donor system does not provide sufficient blood, estimated to range between 15 and 20 units/1000 inhabitants.

Blood shortages can increase the risk of HIV transmission through blood transfusion as health authorities may become less stringent about the source of donated blood.
Acquiring 100% voluntary, non-remunerated donors is a challenge for many countries. For a country to maintain a sustainable blood supply only 1 to 3 percent of a country's population need to donate blood.

Blood donation rates are considerably less in developing countries when compared to transitional countries, which have a donation rate 3 times higher, and developed countries, which have a donation rate 13 times higher.For example, sub-Saharan Africa is home to 14 percent of the world's population, yet total blood donations are estimated to be 6.3 percent of the total global blood donations.
Sometimes cultural and spiritual factors may inhibit the success of blood programmes,on the other hand it is also believed that receiving an unnecessary blood transfusion benefits your health and in many rural parts this practice is used as a 'health booster'.
Inappropriate clinical use of blood, such as this, not only contributes to blood shortages, but in countries which do not test blood appropriately, can increase the risk of HIV infection.
Attempts globally to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 (to reduce child mortality), 5 (Improve maternal health) and 6 (to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases) will not be achieved without persistent efforts by individual countries to develop safe and sustainable blood supplies.

Nyambura Mundia.
Reference: WHO
International HIV & AIDS charity.
Africa Science News.

Lumps in the mountains; Goiter.

About 740 million people have goiters, but the percentage varies greatly by region (eastern Mediterranean: 32%; Africa: 20%: Europe: 15%; Southeast Asia: 12%; western Pacific: 8%; the Americas: 5%).
A goiter is a noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland in the front of the neck. Many conditions can cause goiter, but the most common is a lack of sufficient iodine in the diet, which is usually a result of the soil in which food is grown being iodine-poor—a condition that occurs in many mountainous regions away from the sea. Iodine is required for the production of thyroid hormones, which regulate the body's metabolism.
Iodine deficiency or a lack of iodine causes a swelling called a goiter. People who don't get enough iodine in their diet can develop other problems too. They have less energy. They have difficulty learning and working. They might also be partly paralyzed, deaf or mentally or physically challenged. Iodine deficiency has been called the silent hunger because one does not crave it although our bodies must have it.

When goiters develop, they can range in size from a lump you feel but can't see, to swellings that are as big as a fist. Many goiters are as big as a chicken egg. Sometimes they can make it difficult to swallow or breathe. Some people who lack iodine don't develop goiters, but they have other symptoms instead. These people act sluggish and sleepy, their skin is dry, they get cold easily, and they are constipated.
One of the worst things lack of iodine does is to slow the development of a baby's brain even before the baby is born. Iodine deficiency is the world's leading cause of mental defects.

If a pregnant woman doesn't have enough iodine, her baby could die or be born with a stunted body and without the ability to hear or speak. Sometimes the effects of iodine deficiency are not so serious, but children are still affected, both in their minds and bodies. Such children get sick more often.

Women who suffer from a lack of iodine have a harder time getting pregnant, and when they do get pregnant they suffer more miscarriages, stillbirths and other problems. About five to ten babies out of every thousand pregnancies worldwide die because of iodine deficiency.
Iodine is naturally a part of soil and water, which means it is present in most food. But in an areas where there are frequent floods, or lands away from oceans, there is likely very little or no iodine in the soil and water. So food grown in these areas lacks iodine too.
Recently in Kenya, there has been a prevalence of goiter, most recent cases being reported in Mt Elgon areas, with the Sabot communities. This only compounds the social issues in the region which has been adversely affected by land disputes which suppresses further, food production in the area.
Pregnant women here are lacking in iodine,increasing the risk of child mortality.
it is therefore of critical importance that the government, through relevant ministries,looks into soil treatment and supplementary medication for this population.
In the efforts to fight iodine deficiency,the government of Kenya provided a policy,which dictates that salt be iodized and made available, the average retail cost of salt is ~15 Kenyan shillings per kilo.
The Ministry of Health with support from UNICEF has trained salt monitors for district level monitoring to ensure retailers and households understand the importance of Iodine Deficiency Disorders control through salt iodization. The monitors use rapid testing kits in the field and make reports to head office for follow-up if non-iodized salt is found. Advocacy messages on the importance of consuming iodized salt and storing it properly once purchased are communicated through mobile cinemas in rural communities.
Community health initiatives, are continuously needed among communities such as these, so as to facilitate sustainable prevention measures that significantly foster development in regard to the Millennium Development Goals.

Nyambura Mundia