End of Project Evaluation for BSLUP Assignment

The “Building Sustainable Livelihoods for the Ultra-poor (BSLUP)” project was implemented under the Finance Access to Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprises (FARMSE) programme of the Government of Malawi. The project was implemented by COMSIP Cooperative Union Limited in Phalombe and Mulanje districts from July 2019 to June 2022.

The overall objective of the BLSUP project was to graduate 4,250 ultra-poor households into sustainable and resilient households. This was through formation of savings and loan groups; training on smart Agriculture; mind-set change rules; business and finance management training; life skills development; and nutrition and health training. Project activities also included disbursement of seed money for beneficiaries to invest in their existing businesses or start new ones in order to increase their income. A total of MWK 240,000.00 was disbursed to each beneficiary.

Naturenv Consult conducted the End Project Evaluation from June to July 2022. The consultant designed the study methodology and collected data through a household survey, focus group discussions and key informants interviews. The household survey was administered using Kobo Collect and data analysis was conducted using STATA and SPSS. It was found that project had managed to graduate about 71% of the households, while 23% households are on track to graduation and 6% are slow climbers. The analysis of the findings show that overall, the project has satisfactorily achieved the set goal and objectives.