Final Draft Report for Progress Evaluation of SFCG's Entrepreneurship-Focused Initiatives Programme: "Let’s Do It Project and Legacy for Tomorrow Project"

"Results indicate that considerable achievements in terms of project effectiveness have been registered as evidenced by the entrepreneurial spirit that has been stirred up among the youth. It was noted that a number of business enterprises had started as a results of the messages conveyed to the public through the two projects."

This 60-page report discusses the evaluation findings of the entrepreneurship components of two projects implemented by Search for Common Ground in collaboration with media partners in Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2011. These are the Let's Do It project, which focused on empowering youth through the Zamuka television show, Generation Grands Lacs radio programme, and facebook engagement of audiences for both programmes; and the Legacy for Tomorrow project, which included the Kura Wikorera radio programme to promote entrepreneurship in areas other than agriculture. The evaluation was conducted using a participatory approach with qualitative and quantitative data in order to assess the effectiveness of influencing entrepreneurship/livelihoods outcomes and provide lessons learned and recommendations for future programming.

The evaluation first discusses the evaluation findings related to the Let's Do It Project. The Zamuka reality TV show featured youth competitors as they developed their ideas into functioning businesses. This was designed to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among youth by illustrating the steps involved in starting a business. The Generation Grands Lacs (GGL) radio programme mainly discussed various topics relevant to the socio-economic and political situation in the Great Lakes region. The evaluation found that more of the survey respondents were aware of the GGL radio programme (28.9%) than the Zamuka television programme (15.9%), and this was attributed to the limited reach of the television station on which Zamuka was being broadcast. At the same time, only 3.9% had heard of the internet platform, though project records showed that over 456 youths from the three countries had participated in the online programme. Youth also participated in the programmes through call-ins and sending text messages. It was noted that the programmes alone were "able to cultivate creativity and a spirit of entrepreneurship in the minds of the youths"; and that the GGL programme enhanced collaboration between the five partner radio station in the 3 countries (Rwanda, Burundi and DRC).

The report then discusses findings related to the 30-month Legacy for Tomorrow Project, which included, among other activities, the Kura Wikorera radio programme to encourage youth to create jobs other than agriculture. The 30-minute programmes provided listeners, particularly rural youth, with information on livelihood opportunities outside of land by featuring success stories of those who have succeeded. Of the 842 survey respondents, 78.3% had listened to the programme personally and 42.6% were often listening to the programme. The evaluation found there to be a high public satisfaction - "95.1% of the survey respondents consider Kura Wikorera programme the most appropriate and most relevant approach to address the challenges of youth unemployment in contemporary society." The evaluation found that listeners clubs provided a valuable space for discussion, and that youth gained business ideas and skills from listening. The programme also helped to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship among young people - according to respondents, 33.2% knew someone who had started a business because of the knowledge and skills they gained through listening. Not only did the programme help to connect young people with information, it also helped to connect them with each other, with many forming cooperatives or business development groups.

The evaluation concludes that both projects contributed to entrepreneurial spirit and encouraging self-employment. Listener clubs and using participatory approaches were found to be good practices that should be used across all the project components. The report offers recommendations for future programming, such as:

• Broadening the geographical coverage of Zamuka programme by broadcasting it on other TV stations with wide coverage and less accessibility barriers than TV 10, on which the programme is currently being broadcast.
• Streamlining adoption of best practices from one programme to another for enhanced effectiveness. (This is because the evaluation noted the importance of listener clubs in providing feedback on the programme and, thus, such a strategy should also be adopted in Zamuka and GGL implementation.)/li>
• Giving greater attention to gender by implementing affirmative action throughout project implementation. (This will help to increase the participation of women in programme activities.)
• Taking into consideration the socio-economic behaviour of the intended communities when strategising about the timing of the programme broadcast. "This is important in ensuring increased programme listenership."