The original reason for setting up www.dadamac.net was to make Fantsuam Foundation more visible on the Internet, and to illustrate how dadamac could make communicaiton and collaboration with FF easy.

The initiators:

John Dada, Pamela McLean, Nikki Fishman

Write-up by

Pamela McLean

The backstory

John is the director of FF. John invited me to Fantsuam in 2004, on the first of several working holidays. I was amazed by what I saw there and asked John why he didn't tell more people about what was going on. Over the years, each time I visited, I became increasingly impatient for the FF story to be more widely known.

John would say that I could speak for Fantsuam Foundation when I was back home in UK - but I would say I didn't have enougth detailed knowledge to speak for the organisation - however I could probably speak for him. To save giving long explanations of how I connected with his work we coined the name Dadamac - to cover things he was doing that I felt confident enough to represent, and any new projects we might do together..

The catalyst

I was at Fantsuam when Kazanka Comfort - the general secretary of the Fantsuam Foundation Micro-finance Programme - came back from an ICT conference in South Africa. The main thing she shared with John and me illustrated the chasm between practitioner knowledge and academic research.

Fast Tractor is a UK based initiative started in May 2012 to help Fanstuam Foundation purchase a government subsidised tractor. The tractor is to use at Attachab and to share, at a fair rent, with local farmers.

The initiators

The initiators were Steve Podmore and Pamela McLean.

The backstory

The backstory was about a government scheme to enable organisations like Fantsuam Foundation to buy tractors at a subsidised cost. Fantsuam Foundation had paid a deposit of £2,000 more than two years previously. There had been various false hopes in the past about the tractor becoming available. There were new hopes that with the new administration the tractor scheme might become a reality for Fantsuam Foundation.

The catalyst

The catalyst was an unexpected 21 day deadline for Fantsuam Foundation to find over £7,000 to claim their tractor. John Dada brought this situation to a Dadamac UK-Nigeria team meeting. 

Steve heard the news during a subsequent conversation with Pamela when he asked after John

Steve came back later with the idea of Fast Tractor, and crowd funding.

During one of the regular UK-Nigeria online meetings in November 2011, John Dada, CEO of Fantsuam Foundation, shared with the team his vision.
John told us: " I woke up this morning with this thought that I could get youths from opposing camps to come together to rebuild one of the homes that was destroyed in the violence...I see this as an opportunity for a landmark in some symbolic activity that can draw a line under the cycle of violence and genuine peaceful dialogue begins..an activity to mark Martin Luther Day in January.

Following the post-election violence in April 2011 the  idea of rebuilding the razed market as a peace and reconciliation project emerged from discussions during our weekly UK-Nigeria online meetings. .

During the crisis the market was destroyed causing much hardship and loss of life to the local community. Many traders lost their livlihoods and their family's sole income. The concept is to bring together the Muslim and the Christianty communities who will work together to rebuild an improved Kafanchan Market.

The Kafanchan Peace Market was a logical and practical development of the Community Cohesion and Conflict Resolution Initiative. Other local civil societies are working together with Fantsuam Foundation to implement this initiative.

It was in response to Friends of Fantsuam who wished to help. It includes many ex staff and volunteers of FF.

This initiative was started in response to the challenge that John Dada is facing because of  post election violence,in the local community (in the Kafanchan area of Kaduna State, where Fantsuam Foundation is based).

• See Nikki's blog on Post Election violence - turning death and destruction into hope for the start of this story.
• See Fantsuam Foundation related to local post-election violence for more background.

Setting up this online space will provide a focus for sharing news of what is happening, and for gathering resources and knowledge. It is a first step in helping John to create a strategy to help reduce the local tensions. It may also gradually create an online community of interest to explore wider issues of  Community Cohesion and Conflict Resolution.

If you have relevant experience or resources or just wish to connect with this  initiative in some way (actively or just to observe) please contact us http://www.dadamac.net/contact - please title your email "Community Cohesion and Conflict Resolution"

Fantsuam Foundation is one of three organisations selected.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, in conjunction with the World Bank, are supporting the development of the Rice Value Chain in Kaduna State.

Currently Nigeria imports more rice than it produces, but Nigeria with the right support could produce more than enough to meet its needs, boosting food security and incomes for Nigerians.

Fantsuam Foundation is one of just three organisations that has been selected to implement interventions within the value chain. During this 6 month project (do to finish in February 2011) Fantsuam Foundations' micro-finance department will be training 200 members of the rice value chain in loans, savings, business development knowledge and skills and will also provide additional business mentoring support.

It is also anticipated that many of those undergoing the training will go on to take out micro-finance loans to support the growth of their businesses. This together with the training it is hoped with enable them ultimately to increase their incomes and further secure their livelihoods.

Teleri, is the VSO volunteer who is the Value Chain Researcher & Developer and Market Coordinator at Fantsuam Foundation who is working hard with FF staff to achieve this.

Dadamac is helping this project to be more visible.

Fantsuam Foundation's mission is to eliminate poverty and disadvantage through integrated development programmes. 

Close to 4,500 individuals benefit from Fantsuam's services every year and they recently estimated that over 100,000 people will have benefited, either directly or indirectly, from Fantsuam's Foundation's activities since it was established in Bayan Loco in 2001.

Fantsuam started to partner with the International Center for Aids Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) for training of staff, provision of HIV testing kits and the provision of funds for program based activities which includes the following.

Successfully completed. The child carer project targeted child headed homes.  The 50 beneficiaries  were children who had had to assume the adult role of engaging in business activities to provide financially for themselves and younger family members. They received training to help them in the role that they now found themselves in.

The training has two basic components:

1. Home based care training  (HBC) -  in case they are giving care to HIV positive parents;
2. Business Management Skills for micro enterprise which can make them eligible to access micro credit for more successful businesses.

This six months project was successfully completed in June 2010.

Over half of the beneficiaries opened savings account with Fantsuam Foundation’s micro finance institute.

Dadamac is helping thsi porject to be visibile

The Rumbu or food bank is situated at Fantsuam Foundation.

Food from which is given to children to make up for perennial food shortage usually caused by poor food storage facility, poor value chain on produce from widely spread small scale/subsistence farming.

 The issue(s) that this project is addressing

Usually, by the end of February, household food reserve which survived poor storage would have been completely exhausted. With the rainy season being expected sometime in Aril/May and first harvests in July, for many families, there is usually a five month (March to July) period of starvation which affects low income families in which many of the Foundation's OVCS are placed

Additional information

International volunteers (VSOs) – have been instrumental in helping mobilize resources with which initial foodstuffs (maize, soya beans, sorghum, rice and beans) for the Rumbu were bought early this year (2010).

Out of the 500 enrolled OVCs, 91 (female: 44; male: 47) highly vulnerable ones were selected and given 5kg of foodstuffs (2.5kg each of either rice and beans; or soya beans and maize; or soya beans and sorghum) once every two weeks.

Known locally as the Almajirai Food Programme.Fantsuam Foundation is feeding approximately twenty street children.

The project is targeting the Muslim children who rely on begging at the local market.

The issue that the project is addressing

The children have been sent, often from distant villages, to gain a Koranic education.

They live with a Master, a Koranic scholar, and have to fend for themselves - although a space where they can sleep in his compound is provided.

The Objective(s) of this project

The children have been sent, often from distant villages, to gain a Koranic education.

They live with a Master, a Koranic scholar, and have to fend for themselves - although a space where they can sleep in his compound is provided. Because the master is not paid he is unable to feed the schildren who therefore resort to begging.

Fantsuam Foundation's vision for this project

The plight of these children was revealed at a Wednesday's UK-Nigeria online meeting in May 2010.

The Foundation's plan is to provide three meals each Friday for the children. Roughly 30kg of raw food is supplied each week.

Comfort and Mama Beji  liaise with the Master's wives and the children and decide on the menu. The four wives will then take it in turn to cook the meals. A typical menu might be: