Scholarship Project

Description

The Challenge

In Zambia, public schools are free until the 8^th grade (other than small charges for books and uniforms). However, starting in the 8^th Grade, parents must pay approximately 500 Kwacha (27USD) per year in tuition. This amount, which would seem trivial in developed countries, can be an insurmountable challenge for a farmer earning less than 1.90USD a day and having a large family to support. As a result, in many rural areas, only about 20% of the children who graduate from 7^th Grade, actually go on to complete grade 12.

The Agripreneur Solution

The Zambian government has granted all public schools land upon which they are expected to grow crops in order to help fund the school’s operating expenses. The challenge for the Schools, however, is that the government does not also provide the seed and fertilizer necessary to begin growing crops on such land. As result, at most of these rural schools, this land simply sits idle.

In June 2020, Agripreneuer launched a Scholarship Program pursuant to which it provided 4 local schools with the funds to purchase the necessary inputs to begin growing crops on one hectare of land each.  The profits from these crops will be used to pay the school fees from 8^th to 12^th grade for selected students.  As part of the program, we have also required that the schools grow the crops using “Conservation Farming”, a more sustainable method of farming as opposed to the slash and burn method Zambian farmers traditionally use (which results in widespread deforestation). We have partnered with the local Agriculture Departments to teach students at participating Schools best practices in growing crops using Conservation Farming. The profits we receive from the sale of these crops will be used to fund the Scholarships in perpetuity. We have also agreed to give 10% of the profits to the School to fund general operating expenses.

Finally, we are also in talks with Grand Canyon University to provide free online University courses to selected students from participating Schools. One child with a university degree can change the trajectory of his entire extended family, by bringing knowledge back to his village as well as money.

The Numbers

A proforma statement of costs for each School (based on one hectare of land) is set forth below:

Notes:

1. Includes amount for clearing and preparing the land, purchasing seed and fertilizer, and transportation of inputs to the schools. The land is donated by the School and much of the labour is provided by the students.
2. Based on growing maize. We are also testing the market with potentially more profitable crops such as soya and Irish potatoes, in order to increase the number of scholarships we are able to grant each year.
3. Consists of 2 Scholarship Recipients per year in each of Grades 8 – 12.
4. We retain a reserve for purchasing next years seed and fertilizer, as well as funding contingencies.
5. At an exchange rate of 18.2 kwacha to 1USD.

Required Donation to Fund a Sustainable Scholarship Program for 10 Students per Year

$495 USD