West Africa

Vision and Systems Change

Trickle Up’s work in West Africa aims to improve the practices of implementing partners on the ground in the design and implementation strategies of Graduation programs fighting extreme poverty. Those practices include vulnerability targeting, program design, and implementation of Graduation programs such as coaching and savings groups. The work in West Africa is informing Trickle Up’s program adaptation and plans to scale graduation worldwide.

Adapting programs and policies for Child Protection

Trickle Up’s evaluation of the Child Protection program in West Africa and the development of related materials (sensitization on child rights, risk factors, etc.) is leading Trickle Up to assess the effects of Graduation programs on children and instigate Child Protection policies across the organization.

Scaling Coaching Systems

Trickle Up’s experience scaling up of coaching systems in West Africa serves as a model for other regions.

Trickle Up is drawing on lessons from other regions to inform future projects in West Africa. The successful use of Community Resource People as coaches is being adapted from the Indian context and applied to programs in West Africa. Additionally, the use of digital innovations as part of larger social protection programs, as with MPowered in India, is being assessed for lessons learned that are applicable to West Africa.

Project Highlight:

Adaptive Social Protection in the Sahel

The Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) Program is a program funded by a multi-donor trust fund and managed by the World Bank. Trickle Up’s involvement in the program includes development of coaching training modules and training of social safety nets programs and their partners, who subsequently train community coaches. Coaches provide regular group and individual coaching to the beneficiaries. Group coaching provides Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLAs) with strong platforms for experiences sharing on income generating activities and other program activities. Individual coaching is directed to the beneficiaries and their respective households. It is intended to provide program participants with the help necessary to develop strong income generating activities to meet their financial needs. Trickle Up is also in charge of implementing and managing a process evaluation in four of the six ASP countries. This includes developing a learning agenda and evaluation materials for each country and overseeing all the process evaluation activities in conjunction with the country team.

“I used to buy rice by the kilo, but now I buy it by the bag.”
– Antoinette Zoena, Noussoun, Burkina Faso

“I used to buy rice by the kilo, but now I buy it by the bag.”
– Antoinette Zoena, Noussoun, Burkina Faso

Antoinette Zoena became a Trickle Up participant in 2015 and has had great success expanding her business selling prepared foods and beverages. After joining a savings group, she learned to manage her money. She has since build a new home and saved enough to help pay for her child’s education. “That has really changed the quality of our lives. I am very proud to belong to this group. I have learned a lot.”

Read Antoinette's Story

“I always tell my sisters, I am here to listen. We will work together to find solutions.”
– Madelaine Valéa, Noussoun, Burkina Faso

Madelaine Valéa is a former Health Agent Base who now works as a coach for women who are part of a Trickle Up program implemented by local partner AIDAS. Madelaine knows that the seed capital alone is not enough to overcome poverty—it how each uses the capital that matters. That knowledge is part of why the women of the savings group chose Madeleine as their coach in 2016. Madeleine is motivated by the success of her group. She is greatly respected by her group members and also by the community as a whole.

Read Madelaine's Story

“I always tell my sisters, I am here to listen. We will work together to find solutions.”
– Madelaine Valéa, Noussoun, Burkina Faso

"I am very proud to belong to this group. I have learned a lot."

Participant Story

Antoinette Zoena

Antoinette Zoena awaits her afternoon customers with large container filled with dolo—local beer—and calabashes. Her shed is not empty—that is to say that she is well-stocked thanks to her business growth. She is serving dolo with a wide smile and chopping meat she is going to cook soon.

Since joining the program in 2015, Antoinette has had great success expanding her business. “I had only one cooking pot. Today I have two large pots and three others,” she says. "I used to buy rice by the kilo, but now I buy it by the bag."

Antoinette is a vivacious, good humored, 40-years-old, mother of four. Much of her business earnings go towards her family and she credits the program for teaching her how to manage her money. "Since learning the savings system, I have been able to put money aside and I had a beautiful house built, another one for my first son, and I help to educate my youngest. Now at home we have two sources of financial entry, my husband and I. That has really changed the quality of our lives. I am very proud to belong to this group. I have learned a lot."

Antoinette considers the program a new beginning for her life and that of her family and she plans to continue growing her business. “I will make sure that it lasts. By your next visit, I will have acquired more equipment and my output will have increased," she states assuredly.

Antoinette hopes the program will be continued and expanded so that many women will get the same life changing opportunity.

"As you can see, I am happy. I float on a cloud."

Humble, respectful and patient, Madeleine knows how build trust and confidence among the women she supports.

Coach Story

Madelaine Valéa

Madelaine Valéa is a petite 60-year-old with graying hair in a knotted scarf. She has a maternal air and a smile that immediately puts you at ease. A former Health Agent Base and former member of a group of the market gardening group, Madelaine now works as a coach for women who are part of a Trickle Up program implemented by local partner AIDAS.

The women of the savings group appointed Madeleine to be their coach in 2016. Her motivation is a desire share her knowledge and experience with her peers. The role requires a sense of discretion and tact. Humble, respectful and patient, Madeleine knows how build trust and confidence among the women she supports. "I always tell my sisters, I am here to listen, but not to gossip or share your problems publicly. We will work together to find solutions."

Madelaine knows that the seed capital alone is not enough to overcome poverty—it how each uses the capital that matters. She also understands the obstacles faced by a coach. "The women that I coach have never been to school and most are illiterate. This delays their understanding of the program. Additionally, some husbands are suspicious of the program and take actions that sway the commitment of the women."

Madelaine finds inspiration in the success of her group. One example is the single mother Sidonie Zoungrana, who manages to pay all the expenses of her household, which includes three children. With Madelaine’s support and advice, Sidonie invested her seed capital in market gardening and livestock. Now the benefits of her investment pay for the school fees of her children.

Madelaine enjoys great respect from group members and also from the community as a whole. Not only do members of the saving group refer to Madelaine, but now community women outside the group approach her for advice on issues related to the welfare of their families.

"I've been very happy with my original seven colonies. Now I want to grow, and have even more."

Participant Story

Wilma Teresa Chi Santiago

Wilma Santiago and her family struggled to make ends meet. She was unable to pay for her son’s medical expenses and maintain their home and food security. As a part of the Maya Yucateco indigenous group, Wilma and her community have faced discrimination, illiteracy, and barriers to education for generations. Through financial help from Trickle Up, entrepreneurial coaching, and support from the members of her savings group, Wilma drastically changed her family’s future.

After developing a plan with the help of her coach, Wilma used her $774 in seed capital to buy supplies like protective gear, beehive boxes, and smoke canisters. With her seven colonies, she has created a new honey business, Miel Cisteil, which makes her enough money to live without insecurity.

Today, Wilma proudly serves her family three meals a day. She sees the livelihood training she received from her coach as critical to her new business’ success: “I have learned so much about beekeeping. When to feed them, how to keep away the ants that try to eat the hives. I learned how to chase the bees away with smoke, and how to open the hives.”

“I've been very happy with my original seven colonies. Now I want to grow, and have even more,” Wilma says.

Wilma and the other women in her savings group also learned valuable skills like financial planning, saving, and accessing credit. The savings group helps Wilma build a social support system with other indigenous women living in extreme poverty, who often face social exclusion, racism, and a lack of access to basic services.

With her new income and savings totaling $3,321 so far, she has quadrupled her initial investment in just two years. Now Wilma can afford her son’s medical bills, whereas previously her family could not afford healthcare.

In partnership with Ko’ox Taani, a local Mexican NGO who wanted to implement Trickle Up’s Graduation Approach with indigenous families in the Yucat we are able to reach more people than ever. Our pilot project together supported 200 indigenous families living in extreme poverty. Today, we’ve expanded our partnership to reach 3,000 indigenous families in Chiapas and Yucatán, Mexico, with a focus on women and youth.

Wilma continues to be an advocate for mothers like herself who have big dreams for the future of their family. She is an inspiration to her savings group members, her coaches, and to us.

“This is such a big opportunity,” says Wilma. “I will not waste it.”

See Wilma tell her story

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