The National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), through its Sierra Leone Community Driven Development (SLCDD) Project- Phase ii (GIETRENK) has commenced a five (5) day training of Field Staff, including Regional Coordinators, District Coordinators, Finance and Admin Assistants, Community Base Facilitators and staff of the Rural Finance Institutions on Micro Enterprises Groups (MEGs) and Self-help Affinity Groups (SAGs) Concept, Programming, Business Plan and Agricultural Value Chain Development.
The training which is being undertaken simultaneously in Kenema and Port Loko Districts is aimed at empowering field staff to support the formation and strengthening of SAGs and MEGs in both growth poles and non- growth poles districts to make them economically viable.
Delivering her keynote address in Kenema City on Wednesday, 8th September 2021, the NaCSA Commissioner, Dr. Sao-Kpato Hannah Isatta Max-Kyne commended the good work of field staffs and encouraged them to continue, noting that the government is doing all in its power to improve the lives of the people. This, she said, is the reason why NaCSA has been given a permanent status under the office of the President. She further noted that under the leadership President Bio, NaCSA has continued to gain more donor confidence and securing more funding.
Commissioner Max-Kyne appealed to the field staff to ensure that all the MEGs created; both old and new should succeed. She acknowledged that more sensitization needed to be done on the benefits of savings, noting that it would enable them to expand their businesses.
Group Solidarity, she noted is also key to the successes of the MEG groups. NaCSA, she disclosed, is monitoring the banks with which these groups are banking in order to ensure that their savings grow. Self-contributions, she said, shows ownership, while regular meetings help identify and solve problems which undoubtedly keep the groups in good shape and standing. Dr. Max-Kyne implored participants to be attentive during the training and called for cross fertilization of ideas among themselves.
In a similar engagement, while representing the NaCSA Commissioner at Port Loko City, the NaCSA Senior Director of Programme Development and Quality Assurance, Dr. Susan Robert declared the session open.
Speaking on the importance of the training, the NaCSA Director of Programmes, Md. Regina Saffa purported that the training will serve as an opportunity of learning for the field staff while widening their knowledge on the Project. “Because not all the staff have tremendous knowledge about the Project and that which is expected of them, that is why challenges are bound to exist. As a result, part of the training will focus on this,” she stated.
The Director of Field Operations, Md. Catherine Sillah encouraged field staff to be steadfast and called on them to be more professional in the discharge of their duties, noting that their actions affect the most vulnerable in the communities.
The Programme Manager of the SLCDD II Project, Momoh Juana identified some of the weaknesses among field staff and encouraged them to work hard. He described them as
drivers of development in their various communities.
Group Dynamics, Basic concept on Financial and Business Management, Micro Finance/ Islamic Micro Finance Mode of Operations, Development of Business Plan, Credit and Delinquency Management, Production, Value Addition and Marketing of Agricultural Value Chain commodities were among the list of topics to be covered within the course of training.
At the end of the training, the field staffs are expected to develop action plans for cascading the training to the groups (MEGs and SAGs), while broadening their overall knowledge on various disciplines taught.
