Support to small and medium enterprises (SME)

Medium and small enterprises:-

• We help individual SMEs to improve their management and entrepreneurship skills to manage profitable businesses; without which they cannot repay loans.
• In groups of 15 to 30, we help them to have own managed banking services, save and advance themselves with loan through “VITUO VYA JAMII VYA KUTOA UMASKINI” (VITOVU) or Community Centres for Poverty Eradication (CEPE). As individuals they cannot have the capacity to face formal financial institutions. In VITOVU groups they have managed to walk into these institutions with confidence. All VITOVU centres operate bank accounts with commercial banks. Some VITOVU have invested in buying shares from these banks, thus joining the “stock exchange” market.

Support Women and Youth

As individuals and in groups we empower them economically and socially through “VITUO VYA JAMII VYA KUTOA UMASKINI” (VITOVU) or Community Centres for Poverty Eradication (CEPE). In they choose a common bondage, business or same street/village or as they wish; women groups, youth groups, men alone groups, faith based or mixed groupings so long as they build trust among themselves. Experience has shown us that:-

• Women are the most marginalized and they are the ones who carry the household economic burden most. As such we focus on women to help them balance work and family responsibilities when engaged in self-employment.
• Women have proved to invest their income for their households and especially for their children. If empowered socially and economically they are able to generate, defend and control their own incomes. That way woman can gain power at the households to community level. They can make independent decisions and command more respect to their society. Many become leaders, instigating change in social practices, relationships and can easily mobilize social action.

• Women have proved to use household resources more productively than men and have the best credit ratings.
• Young people are energetic, resourceful, enthusiastic, have drive, initiative, risk taking, zest, ambition, daring, courage’ and so on; as such they have entrepreneurial traits, they need support to excel.
• Focusing to young people creates opportunities to use their talents find personal fulfillment and employ themselves.

Asset-Building Strategies

One of the clear indicators of a poor person is that they do not own long-term assets. They own small cash in boxes (vibubu) hidden under their beds, they buy and keep chicken and goats as forms of savings. They own risky assets. To help them escape poverty:-

• Assets accumulation must be the core and an important anti-poverty strategy.

• Ownership of assets such as formal savings, businesses, owns homes, equity shares, can help the poor to invest in themselves and their families and thus achieve economic independence and inter-dependence.

• Assets such as human resources, social and environmental capital, as well as financial capital, enables communities to prosper and participate fully in the wider economy and determine their destiny.

• Assets building strategies recognize that economic well-being, social justice, and environmental quality are both compatible and interdependent.

 Training and Consultancy Services

ASMET offers direct business development training and technical assistance to help low-income individuals, households to start, expand, and strengthen small businesses. ASMET helps associated members, and other organizations to have own resource people by conducting training of trainers (TOT) workshops. VITOVU members undergo a six weeks intensive training in areas of entrepreneurship skills, managing of savings and credit programs before starting issuing loans to members. 2014 Projects includes; 1. Providede Operational Capacity Training on Basic Entrepenurership, Financial and Marketing Mananagement to Community Radio Managers and Board Members from 9 Community Radios from Micheweni - Pemba, Makunduchi - Zanzibar, Kyela. Ifakara, Pangani, Karagwe, Kahama and Sengerema - Mwanza. 

2. Translation of VSLA training manuals for  PLAN Tanzania from English to Kiswahili .. on going assigment.  

VITOVU and VIKOBA Centres as Community Safety Nets

ASMET has proved that formal and organized groups can be a great force for poverty emancipation and platforms for socio-economic empowerment. The basic principle of the VITOVU methodology is that members of the community or group form an association to jointly save money and grow it into a loan revolving fund for development and security purposes.

 Support Small and Medium Enterprise Farmers

 Future Projects:

The fact that agriculture being a backbone of our economy in the next five years ASMET plans to support the rural population especially young people to engage themselves in agriculture production as enterprises rather than subsistence occupation.

Msaada kwa makampuni ya biashara ndogo na za kati (SME)

Kati na ndogo makampuni ya biashara: -

• Sisi kusaidia SMEs mtu binafsi ili kuboresha usimamizi wao na ujasiriamali wa kusimamia biashara faida; bila ambayo hawawezi kulipa mikopo.
• Katika makundi ya 15 hadi 30, sisi kuwasaidia kuwa na huduma za kibenki imeweza mwenyewe, ila na kuendeleza wenyewe na mkopo kwa njia ya "VITUO VYA Jamii VYA KUTOA UMASKINI" (VITOVU) au Vituo Jumuiya ya Kupunguza Umaskini (CEPE). Kama watu binafsi hawawezi kuwa na uwezo wa kukabiliana na taasisi rasmi za fedha. Katika makundi VITOVU wameweza kutembea ndani ya taasisi hizi kwa kujiamini. Vituo vyote VITOVU kuendesha akaunti ya benki na benki za biashara. Baadhi VITOVU kuwa imewekeza katika kununua hisa kutoka benki hizi, hivyo kujiunga na "hisa" soko.

Msaada Wanawake na Vijana

Kama watu binafsi na katika vikundi sisi kuwawezesha kiuchumi na kijamii kwa njia ya "VITUO VYA Jamii VYA KUTOA UMASKINI" (VITOVU) au Vituo Jumuiya ya Kupunguza Umaskini (CEPE). Katika wao kuchagua kawaida utumwa, biashara au huo mitaani / kijiji au kama wanataka; vikundi vya wanawake, vikundi vya vijana, vikundi vya wanaume peke yake, imani ya makundi ya msingi au kuchanganywa ya muda mrefu kama wao kujenga imani kati yao wenyewe. Uzoefu umeonyesha kwetu kwamba: -

• Wanawake ni wengi wanyonge na wao ni wale ambao kubeba kaya kiuchumi mzigo zaidi. Kama vile sisi kuzingatia wanawake ili kuwasaidia kusawazisha majukumu ya kazi na familia wakati kushiriki katika kujiajiri.
• Wanawake wamethibitisha kuwekeza mapato yao kwa ajili ya kaya zao na hasa kwa watoto wao. Kama uwezo kijamii na kiuchumi wana uwezo wa kuzalisha, kulinda na kudhibiti mapato yao wenyewe. Kwamba mwanamke anaweza kupata njia ya nguvu katika kaya na jamii. Wanaweza kufanya maamuzi huru na amri heshima zaidi kwa jamii zao. Wengi kuwa viongozi, kuchochea mabadiliko katika mazoea ya kijamii, mahusiano na urahisi kuhamasisha hatua ya kijamii.

• Wanawake imeonekana kutumia rasilimali za nyumbani matunda zaidi kuliko wanaume na kuwa na makadirio ya mikopo bora.
• Vijana ni juhudi, mbunifu, shauku, kuwa na gari, mpango, hatari kuchukua, zest, tamaa, daring, ujasiri 'na kadhalika; kama vile wana sifa za ujasiriamali, wanahitaji msaada kuutumia.
• Kulenga kwa vijana inajenga fursa za kutumia vipaji vyao kupata utimilifu wa binafsi na kuajiri wenyewe.

Mali-Jengo Mikakati

Moja ya viashiria wazi wa mtu maskini ni kwamba hawana wenyewe mali ya muda mrefu. Wao wenyewe fedha ndogo katika masanduku (vibubu) siri chini ya vitanda vyao, wananunua na kushika kuku na mbuzi kama aina ya akiba. Wao wenyewe mali hatari. Kuwasaidia kuondokana na umaskini: -

• Mali mkusanyiko lazima msingi na muhimu ya kupambana na umaskini mkakati.

• Umiliki wa mali kama vile akiba rasmi, biashara, anamiliki nyumba, hisa usawa, inaweza kusaidia maskini wa kuwekeza katika wenyewe na familia zao na hivyo kufikia uhuru wa kiuchumi na baina ya utegemezi.

• Mali kama vile rasilimali watu, mitaji ya kijamii na kimazingira, pamoja na mji mkuu wa fedha, itawezesha jamii kufanikiwa na kushiriki kikamilifu katika uchumi mpana na kuamua hatima yao.

• Mali kujenga mikakati kutambua kwamba ustawi wa kiuchumi, haki ya kijamii, na mazingira ya ubora ni wawili sambamba na kutegemeana.

Mafunzo na Huduma za ushauri

ASMET hutoa moja kwa moja ya biashara ya maendeleo ya mafunzo na msaada wa kiufundi kusaidia kipato cha chini watu binafsi, kaya kuanza, kupanua na kuimarisha biashara ndogo ndogo. ASMET husaidia wanachama kuhusishwa, na mashirika mengine kuwa na watu rasilimali mwenyewe kwa kuendesha warsha ya mafunzo ya wakufunzi (TOT). VITOVU wanachama kupitia wiki sita ya mafunzo ya kina katika maeneo ya ujasiriamali, kusimamia mipango ya akiba na mikopo kabla ya kuanza kutoa mikopo kwa wanachama.

VITOVU na VIKOBA Vituo kama Jumuiya ya Usalama

ASMET imeonekana kuwa rasmi na vikundi vya unaweza kuwa nguvu kubwa kwa ajili ya ukombozi wa umaskini na majukwaa ya kijamii na kiuchumi uwezeshaji. Kanuni ya msingi ya mbinu VITOVU ni kwamba wanachama wa jumuiya au kikundi fomu ya chama kwa pamoja kuokoa fedha na kukua ndani ya mfuko wa mkopo yanazunguka kwa ajili ya maendeleo na madhumuni ya usalama.

Kusaidia Wakulima Enterprise ndogo na za kati

Baadaye Miradi:

ukweli kwamba kilimo kuwa uti wa mgongo wa uchumi wetu katika miaka mitano ijayo ASMET mipango ya kusaidia watu wa vijijini hasa vijana kushiriki wenyewe katika uzalishaji wa kilimo kama makampuni ya biashara badala ya kazi ya kujikimu.