BarEl for Health in fragile contexts

Many people in Malawi and globally  are enormously bombarded by health problems in fragile contexts and destabilising events as explained below :

During emergencies, international bodies like African Public Health Emergency Fund for Africa fail to adequately support affected countries because of limited financial resources due to non-contribution by member states. One reason member states fail to contribute is the absence of the mechanism for authorities at  ministries of health or finance to know if contribution to APHEF is done as planned.

https://reliefweb.int/report/w... 

https://www.afro.who.int/news/...

It is unfortunate that there is no budget specifically for emergencies or contingencies for some ministries of health; such that during emergencies or destabilising events some activities can not be carried out at all or they may be delayed. 

Malawi's healthcare spending for 2019 was $30. https://www.macrotrends.net/co... The health sector remains the third largest sectoral spending priority for the Malawi Government, receiving 9.3% of the total budget in 2020/21. https://www.unicef.org/esa/med...

According to World Health Organization Report, Malawi health system ranks number 185 out of 190. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

Many people can not access quality equitable health due to poor management and poor governance. http s://www.who.int/activities/accessing-essential-health-services-in-fragile-conflict-affected-and-vulnerable-settings.

https://extranet.who.int/count...  PP 52 - 55.     

https://npc.mw/wp-content/uplo...     PP 70 - 76.

32.577 deaths per 1000 live births.  https://www.macrotrends.net/co...

Infant mortality rate  in 2022 was 34.327 deaths per 1000 live births. https://www.macrotrends.net/co...

Maternal mortality ratio fell from 675 to 439 per 100,000 live births between 2010 and 2015-16.  https://malawi.unfpa.org/en/to...

Prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS, Neonatal disorders, Malaria, respiratory infection, Cholera, Diarrhoea diseases, Tuberculosis, Stroke,  heart diseases, Cirrhosis, Meningitis, mental illness,  forgotten tropical diseases like Sleeping Sickness  and Non-communicable diseases like Diabetes and Hypertension is high.  https://www.healthdata.org/mal...

Ambulatory services are pathetic,resulting in many expectant mothers and serious cases to die because of lack of transport to ferry them to referral health facilities.

Poor quality of health services with focus on human resources for health, medical infrastructure and equipment: shortage of health workers due to poor appraisal systems and poor human resource planning.

Malnutrition due to food insecurity and poor education on nutrition.

Shortage of drugs due to  drug theft.

Poor sanitation, poor quality and shortage of water, which result in waterborne diseases.

Poor management of finance for health.

Poor primary health care performance measurement due to poor quality or impractical data.

Factors that contribute to health problems are: expensive and poor quality of statistical packages for health research, malnutrition, dietary risks, High Body-Mass Index, unsafe sex, air pollution, poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water, lack of ambulatory services, shortage of health workers, lack of access to health-care, compromised quality of healthcare, poor decision making, poor management of the following: finance, transport, inventory, human resources, projects, operations, risks, quality, immunisation, monitoring and evaluation.

Challenges of health in fragile contexts  beget other social problems in our society like: crime,  poor education and economic decline etc.

Our solution helps to maintain access to health care and build health system resilience in fragile contexts by increasing local capacity and resilience in health systems, including the health workforce, supply chains, and primary care services so as to improve health and quality of the population for sustainable socio-economic development by strengthening health infrastructure, ensuring that health-related data is current, comprehensive, and actionable, and by improving governance and coordination between local and international communities in fragile contexts.

It uses BarEl software, which we developed. It has a number of modules; including, a module for health. It uses database management and Excel.

In order that governments in Africa honour their contributions to APHEF, budgets for ministries of health in Africa should have budget lines for APHEF so that tracking of their contributions should be done easily through expenditure reports. BarEl software has a budget line for APHEF; and through its expenditure analysis tool and its alert system, authorities at ministries of health and finance can take necessary action in the event of underexpenditure of APHEF budget line.

Our solution has a budget line for emergencies.

It gives frontline health workers tools they need to  capture all health indicators like mortality rates, prevalence  and incidence of diseases.

It  improves  transport management at a health facility by: 

1. improving maintenance of vehicles.

2. reducing or eliminating abuse of vehicles or fuel by drivers and other staff members.

BarEl software plays a pivotal role in nutrition Management; for example, by calculating calories lost, Body Mass Index  and Basal Metabolic Rate;hence, reduction in malnutrition and non-communicable diseases like Hypertension and Diabetes.

Furthermore, with the aid of BarEl software, the following are realised:

Pilferage and shortage of drugs are eradicated or reduced through stock management methods like FIFO and LIFO.

Delays in procuring drugs, stock-outs and cost of procuring drugs are reduced through Economic Order Quantity, improved procurement management, inventory management and different forecasting methods  like seasonal index, historical, exponential smoothing and moving averages.

Human resource management is immensely improved through  appraisal system, human resource planning, leave application process and preparing staff returns. Performance rating system facilitates retention of health workers. The staff return and leave application prevents shortage or overage of staff at any point in time.

Improved water management by ensuring provision of quality and enough water; thereby, reducing waterborne diseases. Furthermore, conflicts that arise because of water issues, among community members are reduced because each household  pays water bills and maintenance costs according to how much they consume. 

Water crises  are mitigated by construction of a water storage tank near a water point, so that at no point will taps or water points run dry due to excessive withdrawals.

Improved sanitation, waste management; and monitoring of toilet or latrine management.

BarEl software has easy to use statistical package for health research.

It aids in management of immunisation campaigns, quality management, and project management.

Below is a link to the video of the product demo:

https://youtu.be/7KEuRMI2xKM

Our solution serves:

• women.
• children.
• girls.
• youths.
• everyone.
• ethnic minorities.
• people with disabilities.
• the marginalised.

At present, my target population is underserved in the following ways:

1. They are not getting the expected health outcomes because of poor delivery of services.

2. They have a challenge to access to health care.

3. They  lack health workers.

4. They can not get drugs because of shortage of drugs.

5. Critically ill patients or pregnant women end up dying because of lack of transport to take them to referral health facilities.

6. High prevalence and incidence of waterborne diseases due to unsafe drinking water and shortage of water.

7. Because of poor health, other social problems like poor education will creep in, affecting negatively the economic growth and development.

8. Some health facilities and health workers  fail to achieve optimum performance because their operations are 100% manual.

The solution will address the needs of the target population by:

• making readily available the financial resources from international bodies like the African Public Health Emergency Fund.
• ensuring that the heath budget has a budget component for emergencies or contingencies or disasters.
• securing water and sanitation for all. 
• increasing equitable access to and quality of health care services.
• reducing environmental and social risk factors that have a direct impact on health and by  improving food safety, hygiene and nutrition services.
• improving the availability and quality of health infrastructure and medical equipment through strengthening transport system at all levels.
• improving   availability, retention, performance and motivation of human resources for health for effective, efficient and equitable health service delivery.
• improving recruitment capacity of health workers, enforcing implementation of performance based management, and strengthening the human resource planning process.
• improving the availability, quality and utilization of medicines and medical  supplies by promoting an uninterrupted supply of quality essential medicines and medical supplies to  end-users.
•  generating quality information and make it accessible to all intended users for evidence-based decision-making.
•  enhancing adoption of ICT systems for routine data management.
• strengthening of monitoring and evaluation of health plans.
• implementing and strengthening expenditure analysis to monitor effective allocation of resources.
•  enhancing local capacities to conduct research.
• strengthening accountability mechanisms and performance management across the system.
• establishing the means for improving financial management and audit.
• improving operations management.

The above measures will result in:

• readily available funds for emergencies or disasters.
• improved health and quality of the population for sustainable socio-economic development.
• considerable reduction of death rate.
• improved health care.
• provision of clean water and good sanitation.
• reduction or elimination of shortage or theft of drugs.

• effective risk management.
• improved financial management, improved transport management, improved monitoring and evaluation, improved procurement management, improved Human Resources Management, improved inventory management, improved operations management and improved project management.

Generally, better health in fragile contexts will result in socio-economic development and prosperity, better transport system, infrastructure development, better health, better education; and reduction in crimes, juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancies, population growth rate, poor housing, and other social problems.

Problems our people face, are the problems we have faced ourselves, and are still facing. 

We have an empathy for the trap they are caught in. 

We have a meaningful relationship with groups whose identity or experience are systemically stereotyped, feared, dismissed, or marginalized. 

We have the experience, relationships, data, and knowledge that are essential for developing  measurable, sustainable, high-impact strategies and solutions. I know more about the health sector because of my mother, a retired nurse, and because I worked with the Ministry of Health in Malawi.

We are a part of our community; and we are meaningfully guided by our community’s input, ideas, needs, perspectives, agendas, and assets.

We ensure our communities participate in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation through surveys, suggestion boxes, focus groups, interviews, prototype and product review.

We motivate people in  our communities to be change-makers in their lives, families and communities.

We enhance collaborative processes with our communities through communication, coordination and  mutual support. We take advantage of local groups and free events that provide networking opportunities.

We are a team as well as friends who have supported each other in many ways. We come from the very community we are trying to help, enabling us to recognize both the challenges and assets our communities face.

We have ability to recognize and leverage assets and expertise within our communities we seek to support, that are often overlooked or misunderstood when viewed through a dominant culture lens.

We will create social media groups to learn and capture trends, and for communities to see and understand their own journey. We will use  data to enable other stakeholders, including government and philanthropists to better understand how our communities move out of poverty.

We practise Bricolage. We make with what we have and we make something unique and valued.

We nurture human potential.

We are asset-based in our view of those we wish to help. We view them as people filled with knowledge, skills, ideas, and solutions that if respected and supported, can advance sustainability, impact, and self-determination.

We have the following attributes:

Human Dignity:  we  recognise that all people have unique gifts and assets.

Connection :  intimate knowledge of our communities enable us to find  ways  that might not be as apparent to others who do not have their lived experience.

Community : we  recognize that we are part of a larger group walking together on the same path.  

Agency : we ensure that everyone feels  that they can shape their future, relationships, and environment. 

A Sense of Possibility: We believe that  nothing is impossible.

We  lead, not follow experts in creating solutions to our community’s challenges.

We are not only  supported in creating solutions,  but we are also provided with resources to scale up solutions that are working. 

We are not objects of charity, but drivers of change.

We support people and planet alongside profit. We are far from self-serving. 

We are brave  to create positive social change.  We are passionate and persistent. 

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Currently our solution serves hundreds of people,  through our client EMD Consulting Engineers. 

Funds permitting, we are planning to train more and more health workers, transport officers, accountants, water user associations and water experts on how to use BarEl software, this year and next year.

We are applying to Solve because of the following reasons:

• We need financial help for operations. We need funding in the form of grants and investments, including through prizes and Solve Innovation Future.

• We want to join a class of impressive peers that act as a trusted support group, offering inspiration and guidance.

• We want to join a powerful network of impact-minded leaders across industries and sectors, with dedicated spaces to meet year-round and during Solve’s flagship events such as Solve at MIT.  

• We want to access leadership coaching and strategic advice from experts in the Solve and MIT networks. 

• We want to receive monitoring and evaluation support to build an impact measurement practice. 

• We want to gain exposure in the media and at conferences.

• We want to access relevant in-kind resources such as software licenses and legal services from Solve supporters. 

With BarEl software , which we developed, our solution is innovative as follows:

• It is probably the only solution that addresses the problem of member states failing to honour their commitments to African Public Health Emergency Fund. 
• It  includes a component of contingency or emergencies or disasters in the heath budget.
• It is a positive improvement.  It is feature rich. It is beneficial to users and consumers. It is a more efficient way. It is a better product or  process. It brings improvement. It stands out from the rest and truly makes customers’ lives easier.
• It is something different and unique. It is original and authentic. It is a new method or technique that was not previously available. It is something out of the box. It is a  new way of doing something that has not been tried before and based on real insight of a problem. It is a genuinely new way of looking at things that will have an actual, positive impact on people. 
• It is multipurpose. It is a successful change.  
•  It is customizable. 
• It is sustainable: It is self-sustaining. It does not solely rely on donor aid and funding.
• It is socially inclusive.
• It  strives for inclusion in the workplace. 
• It is diversifiable: Different products are offered.  
• Our solution demands a high level of professionalism.
• It can easily be replaced.
• It can be beneficial to a larger group of people. It can be highly scalable so that it can be cascaded to the entire market ecosystem. It is scalable owing to a huge potential market worldwide.
• With it, we can can satisfy needs of people globally.
• It is reactive. It responds actively to social needs and provides answers to problems within a community.
•  It is not theoretical. It is feasible.
• It saves time; thereby, improving productivity. 
• It solves a problem in a cheaper or better manner. It brings about cost reduction. Money is saved because less paper and less labour are used; thereby, enhancing profit margin or surplus.
•  It provides effective solutions to existing problems; thereby, eliminating a certain amount of stress and saving mental sanity. 
• It is a very easy application to use and learn.
• It provides clear cut jobs with authorization. 
• It enhances security and  internal control environment through segregation of duties as a result of multi-logins. 
• It helps to compare and analyse data across  an organization within a specific period and between two or more periods.  
•  It increases quality and accuracy of information.
•  It facilitates integration and collaboration across departments. 
• It achieves centralization of data as well as harmonisation and simplification of disparate information.
• It can be used both online and offline.
• It has a long list of healthy indicators than any other software. 
• There exists a market for our solution, locally and globally.
• The solution will be highly usable by consumers.
• The solution does not generate new problems that need to be solved before or after the solution is consumed.

The following are the impact goals for the next year and the next five years; and how they will be achieved:

• Attain by 20%  within a year from the commencement of the project,  healthy life, good health and well-being. 
• Secure water and sanitation by 20%  within a year from the commencement of the project.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, increase by 20% equitable access to and quality of health care services.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, member states should start honouring commitments to international bodies like APHEF, and also  pay all their arrears.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, all health budgets should have a budget line of contingencies or emergencies.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, reduce by 20% environmental and social risk factors that have a direct impact on health by promoting use of safe water and good sanitation practices and improving food safety and hygiene and nutrition services
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, improve by 20% availability and quality of health infrastructure and medical equipment by strengthening transport system at all levels. 
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, improve by 20% availability, retention, performance, and motivation of human resources for health for effective, efficient and equitable health service delivery by  enforcing implementation of performance based management, and strengthening the human resource planning process.
•   Within a year from the commencement of the project, improve by 20%  availability, quality and utilization of medicines and medical  supplies by promoting an uninterrupted supply of quality essential medicines and medical supplies to  end-users, and strengthening systems for medicines and medical products distribution.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, generate  by 20% quality information and make accessible to all intended users for evidence-based decision-making, through health research; and standardized and harmonized  tools across all programmes by enhancing adoption of ICT systems for routine data management.
•   Within a year from the commencement of the project, strengthen by 50% monitoring and evaluation of health plans and implementation.
•   Within a year from the commencement of the project, strengthen by 20%  expenditure analysis to monitor effective allocation of resources.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, improve by 20% efficiency in resource allocation and utilization by improving efficiency in resource allocation and utilization
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, enhance by 50% local capacities to conduct research  and enhancing routine data and research reporting and utilization at all levels.
•  Within a year from the commencement of the project, improve by 20% leadership and governance across the health sector and at all levels of the health care system by enhancing capacities in leadership and management.
•  Within a year from the commencement of the project, enhance by 50% accountability mechanisms and performance management across the system.
• Within a year from the commencement of the project, enhance by 50% pro-active risk assessment and management; especially, in finance and procurement.

We will measure our progress toward our impact goals by:

1. measuring management effectiveness survey questions to get employee feedback and reviews at regular intervals .

2. monitoring and evaluating the theory of change. 

3. comparing results of baseline survey with those of end-line survey.

4. documenting our progress. All our goals, tasks, milestones and deadlines will be recorded. Then with a calendar, we will track our progress by checking off completed tasks and achieved milestones.

5. tracking units completed.

6. tracking incremental milestones. 

7. capturing starting and finishing point of a task.

8. calculating cost ratio  

9. Using experience/opinion.

10. taking the following steps: 

a. review the scope of the project. 

b. evaluate the project specifications. 

c. analyze the project budget

d: review client satisfaction.

e: review internal growth and team satisfaction.

11. conducting regular surveys and meetings.

12. calculating the following:

a. cost performance

b. schedule performance

c. cost performance Index

d. schedule performance Index.

e. critical path analysis

13. using Gantt chart.

14. monitoring and evaluating indicators.

Below are some  examples of indicators we will be measuring:

a. Health indicators vis a vis: under-five mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, antenatal care coverage rate, health worker density and distribution,  supervised delivery coverage rate, post neonatal mortality rate,  perinatal mortality rate,  infant mortality rate,  incidence rate, case fatality ratio,  disease specific mortality rates,   prevalence of targeted diseases, immunisation coverage rate, vaccine usage rate,  essential drugs coverage, drug quantity to overcome shortage due to unexpected delivery delays, growth monitoring rate,  prevalence of Anaemia among pregnant women, Tuberculosis incidence per 1,000 population, number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population by sex, age and key populations, Malaria incidence per 1,000 population, number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases, mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene, percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services,  prevalence of undernourishment,  prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age.

b. Transport management  indicators vis a vis: reduction in fuel fraud,  vehicle abuse and excessive expenditure on fuel and maintenance.

c.  Human resource management indicators: labour turnover and number of staff return reports prepared.

d. Financial management  indicators: Percent of resource allocation  and percent of budget utilization.

f. Number of  commitments honoured to international bodies like African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF).

g. Amount of  commitments honoured to international bodies like APHEF.

i. Existence and the amount of the budget line for international bodies like APHEF

j. Existence and the amount of the budget line for contingencies or disasters.

k. Management  indicators:turnover and retention rates, efficiency and productivity.

l.  Education indicators like pass rate and enrollment rate; 

m. Agricultural indicators like domestic food gap and farm income.

15. We will use in-house and/or external resources.  We will hire enumerators who will collect data for monitoring and evaluation through  questionnaires, surveys, checklists,  Interviews, documentation review, review of applications, finances, memos, minutes observation, focus groups and  case studies. 

Problem 

Many in Malawi and globally  are  bombarded by health problems in fragile contexts.

Context

Health workers, transport officers, NGOs and governments are engaged in the project because they are agents of change.

Beneficiaries are:

• women.
• girls.
• youths.
• everyone.
• people with disabilities.
• the marginalised.

They are engaged in the project because they will benefit from it. 

Expected impacts are:

a. better healthy care despite destabilizing events.         

 b. healthy life for all people and reduction in death rate, resulting in economic prosperity. 

BarEl software is referred herein as BarEl. 

GOAL :Improve health and quality of the population for sustainable socio-economic development in fragile contexts.

The assumptions and risks are:

• Funding provided.
• No inflation.
• No electricity outages.
• Emergencies.

Enablers

• Quality of staff 
• Availability of vehicles.

Inputs: staff, funds,  fuel and training workshop equipment.

Strategy: Generating quality health information and make it accessible to users.

Outputs

• 5000 participants trained to use BarEl  in research for health  and in collection of vital information.

 Activities

• Conduct training to use BarEl  in research for health  and in collection of vital information.

Outcome: Improved access and equitable health service delivery.

     Strategy:  Strengthening health care systems.

      Output

• 5000 participants trained to use BarEl in preparing staff returns and  in transport management.
•  Activities
• • Conduct training to use BarEl in preparing staff returns; and in transport management.

Strategy:  Expanding primary and reproductive health-care.

     Output

• 5000 participants trained to use BarEl in stock management of drugs

       Activities

• Conduct training to use BarEl in stock management of drugs

Strategy: Enhancing use of ICT in health-care.

  Output

• 5000 participants are trained to use BarEl in e-Health.

Activities

.    Conduct training to use BarEl in e-Health

Strategy: Improving health campaign initiatives.

   Outputs

• 5000 participants trained to use BarEl in health campaigns

      Activities

•  Conduct training to use BarEl in health campaigns

Outcome: Improved domestic financing for health.

   Strategy: Expanding user fees.

     Outputs

• 1000 participants trained to use BarEl in financial management.

Activities

• Conduct training  to use BarEl in financial management

Outcome: Increased retention of human resources for health.

   Strategy Building human resources capacity.

      Output

• 7000 participants trained on how to use BarEl in performance appraisal.

       Activities

• Conduct training  to use BarEl in performance appraisal

Outcome: Reduced incidence and prevalence of diseases.

  Strategy :

• Strengthening prevention and management of infectious diseases.

   Outputs

• 5000 participants trained on how to use BarEl in  strengthening stock management systems.

Activities

• Conduct training on  how to use BarEl to strengthen  stock management systems.

Outcome: Reduced prevalence of malnutrition.

   Strategy: Promote nutrition education.

Outputs

• 5000 participants trained  to use BarEl in nutrition education

   Activities

• Conduct training  to use BarEl in nutrition education

Outcome: Improved hygienic and sanitation practices.

  Strategy: Promoting adoption of safe hygiene practices.

    Output

• 5000 participants trained on how to use BarEl in water sanitation

    Activities

• Conduct training to use BarEl in water sanitation

 Strategy: Improving management and disposal of waste.

   Outputs:

• 5000 participants trained  to use BarEl in waste disposal and management.

Activities

• Conduct training to use BarEl in waste disposal and management.

The core technology that powers our solution is software or app. It uses a software called BarEl, which I developed using database management and Microsoft Excel. Though BarEl software is based on Microsoft Access, it can be upgraded to Express Edition, which has a bigger capacity to store information. It can also be upgraded to SQL Microsoft Azure, which can enable it to reach many users worldwide through cloud services.

Our approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into our work is as follows:

1.  Employ people of different backgrounds. It is our policy to have the following as our employees: women, youths, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, people from different  racial or tribal backgrounds, people from different homes of origin, people of different religious and economic status. In fact, we have two women in our solution team; namely, Tiwonge Kuyokwa and Mwayi Mbewe. They are both Data Analysts.

2. Help employees to understand how individuals are impacted by unconscious bias, and what actions continue to reinforce biases. We encourage every employee to review, question, and analyze their own personal biases and assumptions.

3.  Respect and embrace other people's experiences and realities. Cultural humility is another way leaders and employees can manage bias and foster more inclusive environments.

4. Identify patterns or trends that may exist where certain groups of employees are underpaid within certain areas of the business; and observe equal pay for equal work.

5. Conduct diversity training that helps employees understand how cultural differences can impact how people work and interact at work. It can cover anything from concepts of time and communication styles to self-identity and dealing with conflict.

6. Promote awareness of, and acknowledge a variety of upcoming religious and cultural holidays. 

7. Make it easy for our colleagues at work to participate in employee resource groups.

8. Ensure that people of different gender, cultural background or age are working together. Diversity in teams positively impacts creativity and innovation.

9. Encourage our colleagues at work to share their feedback to get a better understanding of what is going on under the surface.

10.Assess areas of the business in which discrimination can exist. Determine whether policies promote discrimination in the workplace such as racism or sexism; and then take corrective measures to move towards a more equitable workplace. 

11. Believe in equity and justice.

12.Ensure that our leadership team is diverse by promoting women, people with disabilities, youths and ethnic minorities into leadership positions.

Key Partners  and stakeholders

Health workers, government, local leaders, NGOs,  nutritionists, drivers, transport officers and Water User Associations.

Knowledge partners: 

Axel Angeli of Logos! Informatik GmbH (Germany) and Jasper Bhaumick of UMa Soft GmbH( Switzerland).

 Collaborative partners: University of Livingstonia (Malawi) and

Youth and Society (Malawi).

Research Partners: Research Software and Systems Engineers  Africa.

Business and inclusive partners:

EMD Consulting Engineers, the water engineers (Malawi) and  BIZ-LOGIC SOLUTIONS LIMITED (Tanzania).

Member of 50 Experts Alliance 

1. https://www.50experts.com/ 2. https://50experts.com/50experts/shumba

Key Activities 

1. Train users of BarEl software .

2. Provide office services and routine activities for management of the project 

3. Set up monitoring mechanisms and conducting evaluation.

4. Achieve policy dialogue, coordination and knowledge management through advocacy.

5. Promote project results.

6. Customer service.

7. Support and participation activities.

Key Resources

• Human – employees, volunteers.
• Financial - cash.
• Physical - computers.
• Intellectual - copyright, knowledge, skills

 Cost Structure

• Classes of business structures:
  • Cost-driven.
  • Fixed costs –  salary, rent, motor vehicle insurance.
  • Variable costs – fuel, allowances, training,  impact assessment costs.
  •  Economies of scale - facilitation allowance 
  • Economies of scope –  computer costs, labour, utilities, stationery.

• Characteristics of cost structures:

Cost of delivery

·         marketing.

·         logistics.

Social Innovation

·     Multipurpose 

.  Employ separate or a combination of these models: One-for-one, Service subsidization, Awareness & Cause, Environmental, Entrepreneur support, organizational Support, Low-income client and Fee-for-service.

. Effective transport management

. New research tools

 . Management of communal taps using BarEl software

Format of the intervention

• Provision of BarEl software
• Training workshops on how to use BarEl software

Value Proposition

• Long healthy life. 
• Price of BarEl software is reasonably low, 
• BarEl software is a quality , new, convenient, cost-effective, efficient and customizable brand. 
• Cost savings.

•  Time savings. 
•  Revenue increase. 
• Customer satisfaction. 
• Vertical scaling.

Revenue streams

• Grants.
• Revenues due to training.
• Donations.
• Asset sales: Revenue from sales of BarEl software.
• Participation and support funding.

• Subscription fee.

Surplus

 This is how we intend to use the surplus:

• Make a donation to a social mission-aligned organization.
• Reach out to more customers, stakeholders and beneficiaries.
• Community reinvestment: reinvest our surplus into growing our social business.

Customer Relationships

• Personal assistance e.g. social media, newsletters, forums .
• Dedicated personal assistance.
• Self-service: user manuals.
• Personalized service, repeat custom, loyalty, long-term customers.

Consumer benefits

·         Children educated.

·         Better family health.

·         Economic opportunity.

Distribution channels

Types of channels

1. Owned channels: website, social media, newsletter, e-commerce and online advertising, and store front.

2. Partner channels:  marketplaces, partner websites, retail, social media, global awareness raising events, campus and school programs, corporate cause marketing partnerships and referral marketing.

Customer segments

·   Mass market: General public.

• Niche market: Nutritionists.
• Diversify: Health workers,  government, local leaders, Non-Governmental Organisations, transport officers.
• Philanthropists, regulars, local businesses, ethical consumers.

Beneficiaries

• women.
• children.
• girls.
• youths.
• everyone.
• ethnic minorities.
• people with disabilities.
• the marginalised.

Impact measure will be done through these Indicators: economic growth, average life span, mortality rates, prevalence and incidence of diseases.

Our plans for becoming financially sustainable are :

.selling our digital product BarEl software as a service sold per unit. Our customers can access our product through subscription. It is a licensed software. We offer freemiums to our potential customers. It is on Face Book marketplace.We aspire that it should be on other marketplaces like MIT Solve.

. charging a small fee for installation, maintenance, consultancy and training. We are also looking forward for grants or donations from MIT Solve or philanthropists or investors so that we scale our activities.

. charging different prices to different customers. Price discrimination will depend on size, location and type of customer.  Low income earners will be charged low prices. Government and corporate customers will be charged more than individual customers. Prices will also be charged on SaaS. The more features of BarEl software a customer acquires, the higher the price. We will  charge per year  $5 to individual customers with low income and $50 to corporate customers with no or low profits, and $1000 to governments or big corporate customers that are financially able. We will charge maintenance and installation fees.

. ensuring input efficiency by conducting trainings  en-masse and at once; hence,  reducing training cost per unit, resulting in  higher profit margins. 

. scaling through:

a. vertical scaling. We will create partnerships .We will improve our product for small customers before targeting larger customers. We want to build relationships with more global brands to enable larger sales orders. And we will agree on how to share profits .  BarEl software is  multipurpose.

b. horizontal scaling : we will expand our offering to customers in neighbouring countries, then the Sub-Saharan Africa; and then, the whole world.  African market is largely untapped,and BarEl software is currently one of the few players in the space.

In addition, our revenue models that we will or we employ separately or as a combination:

Hiring or Employment, One-for-one model also known as buy-one give-one, Service subsidization, Awareness & Cause, Environmental, Entrepreneur support, Organizational support, Low-income client  and Fee-for-service .

Transaction revenue: One-time sale of BarEl software or our services. 

Recurring revenue: Our customers will pay for access to a product or service in installments; usually, monthly or yearly.

Service revenue: Our customers will pay periodically, and for our expertise. 

Advertisements. We will sell ad space. 

Furthermore, our plans for becoming financially sustainable are through:

. selling consultancy services to government and other customers.

. service contracts to governments.

. raising investment capital.

. diversifying donor base and developing long-term partnerships with donors. We will continue to rely on donations and grants. 

. effectively and efficiently managing financial and physical resources.

. developing new partnerships, boost existing relations with donors, beneficiaries and stakeholders.

The Total Addressable Market in Malawi is $15 million. And for Africa, it is is $35 billion.

 Some examples of how our plan to achieve financial sustainability has been successful so far are:

• Our organisation has a hybrid structure i.e. it has a traditional approach of generating income through sale of BarEl software and through receiving grants or donations; hence, reduction in reliance on the gen­eros­ity of donors.
• We increase rev­enue through sale of BarEl software or training provided to users of BarEl software. We  achieve this by increasing customer base through promotional activities. Scalability is done through use of internet and entering more markets; including national, regional and global markets. It is on YouTube as well as on Face Book marketplace. 
• We want to join  other platforms or marketplaces like MIT Solve.
• The solution is scaled to affect lives of more people living in low and middle income countries; hence, more revenue.

• We have so far created partnerships, which are already bearing fruits. Sales revenues realised or that will be realised from such partnerships  will help to subsidise  costs of the project, and will also be used to fund social programs. We will also be advertising our software called BarEl on partner websites. 
• Below are some of our partners:   

a)    BSL , an IT company of Tanzania with strong links to India, Serosoft,  an IT company of India with branches in USA and Europe, EMD Consulting Engineers of Malawi,  University of Livingstonia in Malawi and NBM Development Bank of Malawi.

b)  https://www.50experts.com/ 

c)  https://50experts.com/50experts/shumba

• We  also had some sales revenue through provision of consultancy services using BarEl software to clients of NBM Development Bank on how to prepare business plans so that they access credit: This business activity has the potential of generating $12.5 million annually in Malawi.
• We  also intensify appealing for more grants or donations to achieve double-digit rev­enue growth.
• We have raised $2000.00 through my monthly pension.
• We incre­men­tally improve our gross and oper­at­ing profit margins through cost minimization.
• We  man­age  work­ing capital through proper cash management and work­ing cap­i­tal account, which can cushion against short-term rev­enue downturns.
•  We effi­ciently invest cap­i­tal in growth projects, while taking into consideration investment appraisal techniques like (ROI, IRR, NPV) and also break-even analy­sis.
•  We steadily build our asset base, which is key to mov­ing for­ward with impact-driven activ­i­ties even when cur­rent dona­tions are down.
• We use low-cost debt in man­age­able amounts as a financ­ing tool.
• We engage with a com­mu­nity of investors who are inter­ested in invest­ing in the mis­sion of social busi­nesses and enter­prises rather than donat­ing.  They can invest with equity or debt, with low­ered expec­ta­tions for returns.  This is a valu­able source of funds for our organisation.
• We appeal to all our stake­hold­ers why our organisation deserves their con­tin­ued finan­cial sup­port.