Basic entrepreneurship training for Self-Help Groups in Nias

After providing relief and recovery assistance to tsunami and earthquake-affected communities in Indonesia, ACTED is supporting long-term development for communities on Nias Island. Farming and fishing Self-Help Groups are receiving training in management, cooperative structure, entrepreneurship, and business planning.

Dark storm clouds were rolling over the horizon from the coast on a sweltering afternoon in Lahewa town, northern Nias, off the coast of Sumatra. The smoke of traditional clove cigarettes hung heavily in the air as 15 members of Sukamaju (roughly translated as “Desire for Progress”) gathered in a dimly lit room of a clapboard house along the main road to take part in entrepreneurship training. The day’s module focused on basic accounting and members broke into small groups to tackle topics such as interest calculation and loan repayment tracking.

ACTED responded to the 2004 tsunami and 2005 Sumatran earthquake with relief and recovery interventions including shelter construction, rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities, and Cash for Work projects. While many NGOs phased out of Aceh and Sumatra at the end of the reconstruction phase, ACTED continued to work with communities in northern Nias during the transition to development and poverty reduction. Nias Island is a short flight from Medan or a 12-hour ferry ride from Sibolga on the Sumatra mainland, thick with banana trees and coconut palms but is also isolated and densely populated, but remains in the bottom 10 % of Indonesia’s health, education and household income indicators. Most families rely on agriculture and fishing to support themselves, but still struggle in terms of food security and income stability.

Improving Livelihoods

ACTED’s partnership with the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) has funded a four-year livelihoods and local governance project. Phase I of the project involved training for groups of fishermen in marine carpentry which resulted in the construction of 100 boats and their distribution to communities in Lahewa district. These fishing groups, as well as additional groups from nearby communities who saw firsthand the success of the project, are now extending their activities to new areas to improve income generation during Phase II of the project.

Sukamaju leader Syaifuddin Zebua described how what started as a simple fishing group and is now officially registered at the village level, began a credit union among members last year. Loans from his fellow members helped Syaifuddin buy a new boat engine which helped him to continue working as a fisherman. Unfortunately Sukamaju has had trouble managing loan repayments and has put its activities on hold until they can improve their business skills. Syaifuddin said that he helped convince the members of his group to continue to attend trainings provided by ACTED through community volunteers:

“Before we faced problems individually, but as a group we work together to find solutions.”

ACTED will continue training with the Self-Help Groups until after next month when they will have the chance to submit a business plan for a small grant. This experience will also serve as practice in lobbying the local government for available development funding provided under Indonesia’s decentralized district funding system.