Regional Resources Base Economic Development Micro Finance Project (RREDMP)

The Colombo consumer price index averaged 6.0% in 2021, up from 4.6% in 2020, accelerating to 15.1% year-on-year in February 2022. Stymied by a large debt overhang, fiscal and external financing needs, and double-digit inflation, among others, GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.4% in 2022 before rising slightly to 2.5% in 2023. Sri Lanka continues to face a multidimensional crisis compounded by food insecurity, threatened livelihoods, shortages of vital and essential medicines, as well as rising protection concerns. The economic crisis is the worst since Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948 and is having humanitarian consequences for many vulnerable people in the country. A 40 percent reduction in agricultural outputs in the 2021/2022 Maha and 50 percent reduction during the 2022 Yala seasons have further exacerbated the situation. Forecasts for the 2022/2023 Maha season indicate a significantly reduced harvest as well, which, coupled with a food inflation of 85.6 percent in October, means that a significant part of the population is finding it difficult to meet basic needs.

Sri Lanka Has been unable to buy the goods its needs from abroad. And in May 2022 it failed to make an interest payment on its foreign debt from the first time in history. This damaged its reputation with lenders, making it even harder to borrow money on the international market.
To overcome of above mentioned chronic country economic issues situation we proposed the following project objectives for assist to resilience the economic matching with sustainable development goals declared by UN.

The Main Goal of RREDMP the Intersection

The program participants undergo a broadening of their resource-base by mobilizing savings, accessing capital, engaging in microenterprise activities, participating in the value chain markets, and receiving institutional development support.
Appropriate training activities are provided to the participants for them to improve their existing micro-enterprises or pursue other enterprise activities with market opportunities. A follow through intervention is done by connecting them to non-government organizations and private sector groups that provide business development services such as: (i) product and marketing development, (ii) skills enhancement and business management in preparation for market integration, and (iii) diversified loan packages for further financial assistance.
Considering that not all poor households, including Middle level house hold program participants are interested to engage in entrepreneurial activities, job opportunities are made accessible to the Sustainable Livelihood Program participants. The Employment Facilitation Track helps employable individuals’ access locally available jobs through public-private partnerships (PPP). This also includes skills enhancement and pre-employment training to adequately prepare the participants for employment. Continuous upgrading of technical skills is provided to the participants in order to equip them with the capacity to independently search for employment opportunities in the future.
Through the program, it is hoped that that enabling the participants to manage sustainable micro-enterprises or linking them to locally-available jobs will enhance their access to basic social services and improve their standard of living.

General Objective.

To improve the socio-economic capacity of the participants through a micro-enterprise development and employment facilitation program that shall ultimately provide a sustainable income source
Specific Objectives of Project.

Preparation of comprehensive House hold data base on 23 district to assist implement of Economic growth base activities.

1. Implementation of Regional resources base economic development Micro finance project in collaboration with Government entities and privet sector engagement not limited to NGOs. To facilitate opportunities for micro-enterprise development through social preparation, capacity building and resource provision activities.
2. Creation Of entrepreneurship focus self-help group aiming to establish women headed corporative society to functioning as Microfinance Facilitator. Improve the beneficiaries’ capacity to avail of the products and services of different financing institutions, including but not limited to credit, savings and micro-insurance.
3. Established the 10 regional base production factory for produce value addition products targeting from export market.
   d. Creation of new job 2000 in value addition base project activities. To promote community involvement and social responsibility among the participants through activities that builds their relationship their community, their co-participants, their families and themselves

Project implementation Methodology.

The Regional Resources Base Economic Development Micro Finance Project assists (RREDMP) vulnerable communities in 23 district in sri Lanka State to rehabilitate and restore their livelihoods and strengthen local food sovereignty based on sustainable agricultural practices and development of local livelihood opportunities.

Target Participants

The Sustainable Livelihood Program participants should meet the following requirements:

1. Should belong to poor households as identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), prioritizing Pantawid Pamilya program participants and other qualified poor households not included in the NHTS- PR
2. Should at least be 18 years of age for the Employment Facilitation Track and at least 16 years of age for the Microenterprise Development Track after submission of a written consent from a legal parent or guardian
3. For the Microenterprise Development Track, should be a beneficiary of RREDMP social protection programs and services who has limited or no access to formal credit facilities (micro-financing institutions, banks, cooperatives, formal lending investors, pawnshops, and other formally registered credit entities)
4. For the Employment Facilitation Track, should be a beneficiary of social pro RREDMP prtection programs and services with labor skills but with no formal employment or is unemployed
5. Preferably be a beneficiary of the Samurdhi Welfare Program for at least 2 years wherein the Social Welfare Indicators (SWI) show a readiness for engagement in livelihoods

Program Tracks

The program design has two tracks: the Microenterprise Development Track and the Employment Facilitation Track.

Track 1: Microenterprise Development
Track 2: Employment Facilitation

Sustainability (what happens after 4 years?)

It is envisioned that, after 4 years, the activities launched through the project will continue to operate and expand independent of Corporate Society and Corporative development department of Sri Lanka involvement. There are 3 aspects to the projects sustainability:

1. Robust businesses are inherently sustainable. The individual microenterprises established through the project will continue to function, to generate income, and create jobs after the end of the project.
2. By working with and through community-based women’s associations that are accustomed to operating businesses, Corporative society and Corporative development department will strengthen their capacity to provide ongoing support to their members who have started their own businesses.
3. The women’s business council is intended to provide a forum for women entrepreneurs to continue to share their experience and to provide peer-to-peer business mentoring without the involvement of an outside organization. The council will be made up of both experienced and new entrepreneurs. New entrepreneurs will be able to seek guidance from more experienced entrepreneurs. The activities of the council peer training, and exchanges – will encourage the expansion of business opportunities for women after the end of the project.
4. The micro-franchise concept is designed to establish a network of businesses, with the aim of (a) simplifying the launch and operation of a business for individuals who have limited business management experience and (b) facilitate peer-to-peer support in technical and managerial aspects of microenterprises.