SMART-market 2024
Supporting small-scale African entrepreneursThe turn of the year invites us to reflect on the past, Jacana has just evaluated the last 8 years and, thanks to your help, has come to some wonderful conclusions. We started small with business training and guiding entrepreneurs. After the first year, we specialised in providing water for small-scale entrepreneurs, from then on the ball really started rolling. Water turned out to be most important for farmers, but other questions came up. Much of those questions Jacana was able to answer substantively by training other “SMART entrepreneurs” to provide the requested products and services.
SMART entrepreneurs
Below are the most important “SMART entrepreneurs”:
SMARTechs have been developed to provide water to farmers, among others. Jacana has trained the following SMARTech entrepreneurs for this purpose:
Borehole siters. They survey the area and carry out Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) measurements to find the most suitable location for drilling a borehole and which technique can best be used to do so.
Drillers. They manually drill boreholes up to a maximum of 40 metres.
Drillers. They manually drill boreholes up to a maximum of 40 metres.
Solar pump installers. They install solar-powered pumps and they also make mobile solar-powered pumps. Farmers can easily take these mobile pumps to the field for irrigation.
Solar pump installers. They install solar-powered pumps and they also make mobile solar-powered pumps. Farmers can easily take these mobile pumps to the field for irrigation.
Rope pump producers. They make affordable hand pumps from locally available materials.
Rope pump producers. They make affordable hand pumps from locally available materials.
Designers and installers of solar systems. These entrepreneurs design systems (using locally available solar materials) and build solar systems tailored to the customer’s needs and budget, both for families and businesses. .
Designers and installers of solar systems. These entrepreneurs design systems (using locally available solar materials) and build solar systems tailored to the customer’s needs and budget, both for families and businesses. .
Producers of tools for beekeepers. A number of entrepreneurs are trained in making bee suits, hives and simple honey processing systems.
Producers of tools for beekeepers. A number of entrepreneurs are trained in making bee suits, hives and simple honey processing systems.
Greenhouse producers. They build affordable greenhouses or tunnels for farmers.
Greenhouse producers. They build affordable greenhouses or tunnels for farmers.
Poultry feed producers. They put together high-quality feed for poultry farmers, tailored to the type of poultry and purpose (e.g. egg-laying or meat). In doing so, they use locally available ingredients.
Poultry feed producers. They put together high-quality feed for poultry farmers, tailored to the type of poultry and purpose (e.g. egg-laying or meat). In doing so, they use locally available ingredients.
Oyster mushroom cultivators train local farmers in cultivating high-quality oyster mushrooms.
Oyster mushroom cultivators train local farmers in cultivating high-quality oyster mushrooms.
Jacana also provides training for farmers in “conservation farming“: this is a way of farming that is based as much as possible on the principles of organic farming and uses chemicals only where necessary.
Jacana also provides training for farmers in “conservation farming“: this is a way of farming that is based as much as possible on the principles of organic farming and uses chemicals only where necessary.
The following topics are covered:
- Financial planning of farming.
- Making compost and compost tea.
- Making organic pesticides.
- Organic tillage.
- Principles of agro-forestry.
- Anticipating climate change.
In short Jacana has not been idle. One thing led to another: having trained beekeepers, they started realising that it was not good to use pesticides, and the desire was born for organic farming training.
So far, Jacana has always written project proposals asking for one aspect of the above, for example water products or a project focusing on solar energy.
Everyone is unique
Jacana will, by 2023, offer people in rural villages a choice from the range of affordable solutions described above that have been developed in recent years as a result of requests from similar villages.
We do not deviate very far from our existing approach but focus a little more on individual demand.
We have planned, for instance, to set up a “SMART market” in villages. At this market, SMART entrepreneurs, trained in the past, will offer their services and products.
Small-scale entrepreneurs choose at the market in their rural villages, the product or service which suits them best and develop a simple business plan under Jacana’s guidance. We visit each potential beneficiary to examine the feasibility of the plan. Since people in these villages do not have capital, Jacana will sponsor a portion of the chosen product or service. Finally, Jacana will check the quality of each delivered product.
For example, you can think of a local barber who is interested in a small solar system that can run a trimmer, or a chicken farmer who can immediately save costs if he learns to make his own chicken feed, or a tree grower who will benefit enormously from a greenhouse and so on.
This promotes diversity of small-scale businesses within the village which will benefit the stability of the often very fragile local economy.
By-product
By-product of this approach is that SMART entrepreneurs gain more experience in marketing, they expand their customer base and create more word-of-mouth promotion for solutions that are still unknown to many (even outside the village).
Who we work
Funding status
Data on 1-Dec-2023. All amounts are in Euro.
| Description | Average unit cost | No. of selected entrepreneurs | Funded entrepreneurs | Looking for funds |
| Borehole with solar pump | 1,550 | 13 | 3 | 10 |
| Borehole with rope pump | 1,200 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Solar pump on an existing well | 550 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Mobile solar pump | (*) | 20 | 20 | 0 |
| Bee training and guidance | 170 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Chicken feed production | 120 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Organic compost production | 150 | 35 | 23 | 12 |
| Solar energy system for business | 1,250 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Solar energy system upgrade | 500 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Total | 115 | 74 | 41 |
We believe in this new approach. Do you?
If so, we ask for a small end-of-year contribution for this new project. You can do so via bank account: NL89 TRIO 0390 3594 16 SWIFT code TRIONL2U or via the web-site:
- € 32,812 raised now, still € 19,988 of € 52,800 needed. 62%
Contributions received from:
In random order. We will only publish your name if you have agreed to this in writing..
Hofsteestichting
De Johanna Donk Grote Stichting
Stichting Werkgroep Een Aarde
Maria van Kesteren
Casper Helmer
Lode Flore
Netty & Lex Hogenbosch
Cilia van Thiel
Jeannette Biesbroeck
Ans Seegers
Stichting Castricum Helpt Muttathara
Kringloopwinkel Reeuwijk
Stichting Ontwikkelings samenwerking Boxmeer
Henk Holtslag
Michel van Wijk
Margareth van Kleef
Pushpa Hoppener
Mario van Hartskamp
Christa & Ingrid Smeets
Jake Harder
Sita Holtslag
Bert Broens
Martijn Schootstra
J.L. Groux
Ton Teunissen
Jos Koben
Marion Veassen
Annelies Sepers
Dutch special: Shoppen voor Afrika
300 Online shops ondersteunen kleine Afrikaanse ondernemers.
Bijna alle online winkels zijn bereid een gedeelte van hun winst aan Jacana te doneren, maar dan moeten ze wel weten dat jij als klant dat ook wilt.
Het enige dat je daarvoor moet doen is via deze beveiligde pagina naar je vertrouwde winkel gaan.
Beter nog download onze Android App “Shopping for Jacana” van Google Play Store en gebruik deze bij elk van je online aankopen.
Het kost jou niets en helpt Afrikaanse ondernemers enorm!
Het kost je NIETS!
