Why we do it.
A simple google search on education, health, poverty or any social ill in Africa will have thousands if not millions of results. Most of these results and facts are not pleasing. These facts and stories mostly are true. Over the years, there has been significant progress in reducing and potentially eradicating these problems. The big issue is, most of the solutions to these problems take a top to bottom approach. Some of the solutions work and are sustainable but often times they fail or are not sustainable. The people and communities who are beneficiaries are usually not included in the decision-making process or solution designs. This has caused a few communities to become dependent on other parties to solve their problems.
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We simply believe that underserved communities should be included in creating their solutions. Communities have resources which could be used to help solve their problems. These resources may not be enough to solve the problems entirely but it is a start.
In our case, some rural subsistence farmers have crops and livestock which go to waste. These same farmers due to multiple reasons can not afford to pay for basic needs such as schooling and health costs. We are helping these farmers help themselves.
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- Close to 70% of Africa's population is employed by the Agricultural value chain.
- Over 35% of all the crops produced by these farmers go to waste due to poor storage, lack of information, diseases or poor farm-to-market infrastructures.
- There are almost 30 million children who are either completely illiterate or have dropped out of school in Africa. 56% are girls.
- two-thirds of girls who drop out of school get pregnant before the age of 17.
-75% of Africa's poor are found in rural areas. 88% of farmers in Africa are found in rural areas.
- Approximately 830 women die each day from preventable causes during pregnancy with most of them in rural Africa.
-Malnutrition causes more than 40% of child deaths in rural Africa.
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These are just a few reasons why we decided to start PovoPay. We are helping people help themselves. We are helping provide education and health care to families who wouldn't have the means otherwise to access this service.
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Join us as we change the world one school child at a time.
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