We are supporting this project as a cooperation partner of the Stay Foundation (Stay – Stiftung für multiplikative Entwicklung) in Stuttgart, Germany (www.stay-stiftung.org). Like Jansen PrimeSteps, the Stay Foundation is engaged in the fight against poverty and uses an entrepreneurial approach. Stay operates on the assumption that local social entrepreneurs can best understand the needs and possibilities of those who want to help themselves break out of poverty (so called “active poors”), so those locals can provide the most effective support. As Stay founder Benjamin Wolf says, “It’s not what we do that’s so vital, but what the people do locally.” That’s why he and his team developed a social franchise system, showing how people can find and select local social enterprises, link them into an alliance and provide them with proven concepts and know-how that enable rapid multiplication and implementation. The results are simple, income-generating projects with many microenterprises in the areas of agriculture, honey production, tailoring and handicrafts such as welding or carpentry.
This should be achieved with entrepreneurialism, with the goal that the entire franchise system is or will become self-sustaining and not rely on perpetual donations. The project in Kenya is called Angaza Stay Alliance Kenya.
The Stay Foundation is not starting from zero, but has already founded such alliances and gained experience in Uganda and Rwanda.