Village Enterprise

 

Equips people living in extreme poverty in rural Kenya and Uganda to create sustainable businesses. Provides training, mentoring, savings/credit groups, and seed grants.

Village Enterprise’s unique and proven model gives hard-working people the opportunity to transform a small grant into a new business, a better standard of living, and hope for the future. It helps them develop business plans and launch and sustain small businesses, such as farming, animal husbandry, bicycle repair shops, vegetable stands or used clothing stores.

To date, Village Enterprise has launched more than 33,000 micro-enterprises in East Africa and permanently changed the lives of more than 700,000 people. Program evaluations have shown that after one year, 88 percent of new businesses created since 1987 with our help are still thriving, and after four years, 75 percent are still operating.

Proven Results

The most recent independent assessment of our work found that one Village Enterprise-assisted business supports the lives of 21 people. Each business is owned by 3 entrepreneurs and on average, each business owner supports 7 dependents.

• After the one-year graduation program, participants increased their standard of living by 35 percent.
• Food and nutrition: food consumption and security was enhanced by 178 percent and protein in diet increased 4 times.
• Business Savings: after 1 year, individuals saw a 200 percent increase in individual savings and $455 savings per business savings group.