Summary

Unleashing the potential of local youth to transform social challenges into social enterprises. Njombe Innovation Academy replicates the social innovation academy (SINA) model in Njombe (Tanzania).

Problem

Njombe region´s main economic activities are agriculture (76.3% of GDP) and livestock keeping. Local youth have few employment opportunities. Around 10% are unemployed and face unfavourable conditions to become entrepreneurs; hence, they usually engage in informal and unstable income-generating activities such as “mishe mishe” (daily small jobs) or seasonal farming. Youth who have not completed secondary or higher education (41% are out of school in secondary) are the most affected since they lack the skills and network to create or find decent income-generating activities. At the same time, Njombe faces social challenges such as malnutrition (levels of stunting are 49.4 %), HIV (11.4% prevalence) or poverty (GDP/capita 10% lower than the national level).

Could we create an environment where local youth gain the tools and mindset to transform the challenges that surround them into social enterprises? SINA has the answer.

Watch this documentary about SINA!

Solution

The SINA model has proven that through a cost-effective and “freesponsible” community approach, marginalized youth can become self-reliant and can create a future for themselves through social enterprises, which in turn disrupt the root causes of social problems. Skills are gained by taking up responsibilities within self-organization in a SINA community. Youth grow personally and professionally while putting learned tools immediately into practice.

Social enterprises which emerged range from organic mosquito repellant soap to construction out of plastic bottles or a flooring solution from plastic bags and eggshells. SINA scholars have gone as far as being recognized by the Queen of England, Obama or Ban Ki-moon as changemakers and social entrepreneurs.

This model has already been replicated in countries other than its origin, Uganda; thus, planting a “SINA model seed” in Njombe will probably lead to additional self-organized spaces for social entrepreneurship across Tanzania.

Njombe innovation academy is the space where local (young) actors come together, gain skills and create a self-sustaining ecosystem that turns local challenges into social enterprises.

Theory of Change

• Desired impact: an increased number of social challenges tackled in Njombe by youth-led enterprises with locally available resources.
• Outcome: in order to create that impact we are bootstrapping a self-organised community of youth in Njombe who commonly owns and manages resources (material, knowledge, financial, social) to create social enterprises out of challenges.
• Assumption: the potential and leadership to create positive social and environmental impact of local youth will be unleashed through the SINA model.

Expected outputs for 2024:

• 5 local youth (scholars) are capacitated to become coaches and mentors of future cohorts (3 in Uganda and 7 in Njombe). It is assumed that scholars trained in Uganda have incentives to create a SINA community in Njombe.
• At least 10 scholars are trained per year who create 2 social enterprises per year. It is assumed that successful scholars and enterprises have incentives to continue to contribute to the SINA community in Njombe.
• Mechanisms for the sustainability of the academy are in place. It is assumed that those mechanisms create the required culture (freedom and responsibility, knowledge sharing and mutual support, shared finances, shared materials and space, teamwork & collaboration) for the sustainability of the community.

Milestones

• 3 young people from Njombe complete SINA´s 5 stage replication process in Uganda - 6,000 USD DONE Video summary
• Space and materials ready in Njombe, including water, food and electricity provision systems - 20,000 USD In progres Updates 2023 & our dream
• 1st and 2nd cohorts of scholars in Njombe - 15,000 USD In progress
• 1st social enterprise registered in Njombe
• An enterprise has a 2 million TZS turnover
• 1st cohort of certified trainers
• Secured funding to run another year

Strategic approach & sustainability

2-3 youth (at least 1 woman) have stayed at SINA in Uganda for one full year to become equipped with all the skills and tools necessary to replicate the model in Njombe. In the meantime, in Njombe, the learning space has been arranged, materials have been procured, SINA Njombe has been registered, local mentors and coaches have been selected and a selection process has been carried out to select 15 participants of the first cohort in Njombe. At least 50% of the selected participants will be women, 15% will be people with disabilities and all of them will come from marginalised and/or poor backgrounds.

Within NIA´s first 2 years, two cohorts of scholars will undergo SINA´s empowerment process (one cohort each year) while living together and co-creating a self-organised, commons-based, feminist and transparent community with open source principles, benefiting from the experience of those youth who stayed in Uganda. Their enterprises will then move into the incubation phase. Before the second cohort starts a “train-the-trainer” training will take place where scholars will get ready to become the life-coaches, mentors, training facilitators and self-management trainers of the second cohort.

In the short term we will look for donations (e.g. local business people) and income streams providing our services. In the medium term, social enterprises "born" at NIA will be the main source of income and we will experiment with tokenisation or community currencies.

Implementation arrangements

Local youth are the key project agents: they are not “passive beneficiaries” but active agents who lead the creation of a SINA community in Njombe. The other agents offer a conducive environment and provide support and expertise in required topics. This arrangement has already been successfully implemented to replicate SINA communities in Zimbabwe or DRC, to mention a few. It allows youth to gain skills by taking up responsibilities within self-organization in a SINA community and to grow personally and professionally while putting learned tools immediately into practice. All the agents will walk the talk and self-organise with Holacracy. Hence, decision-making (including the chanelling of funds) will be consent-based and transparent.

Transparency

• Gnosis safe main multisig wallet: 0x308Fd8FB79379dEAD5A360FFb6Dd2D1AFf9F5EE4

• Wallet address: 0xAb2456B5758C0d7f4272151eFb56cb7643CA7E30

Team:

• Ester & Yohana: learn and experience the SINA model and replicate a self-organised community in Njombe.
• SINA (Uganda and other SINA communities): the whole project mentoring and support. International network. Expertise on empowerment process and Holacracy.
• Unai: project coordination. Expertise on simple technologies and circular economy
• Ibra: mentoring and coaching of scholars. Expertise on innovation processes. Learning space in Njombe
• Local and national mentors and coaches
• Buni hub: mentoring for scholars and the whole project. Expertise on innovation processes and incubation. National level network (mentors & coaches, events, business and industry connections) and funding.

Want to contribute?

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Now that things are moving on the ground we will require additional help: e.g. mentors and coaches for scholars and local social enterprises.

Karibuni sana!