About Us
WELCOME TO RURAL HELP INITIATIVES
RURAL HELP INITIATIVES is a non-profit organization working to end poverty in the rural areas and hard to reach locations of Nigeria.
This organization was established to alarming poverty rate in Nigeria. In June 2018, the world poverty clock revealed that Nigeria had overtaken India as the nation with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty across the world (“poverty capital of the world”), with an estimated 90.8million people measured to be living on less than $1.90 (684 Naira) per day using the international poverty line by World Bank. It has also been forecasted that there is a possibility of continuous increase if nothing is done about it. This data released by World poverty clock shows that poverty is rising in Nigeria more than anywhere else in the world hence the need for quick and sustainable interventions.
RHI works in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to reduce the rate of poverty in Nigeria by creating sustainable sources of livelihood to the most vulnerable individuals at the grassroots.
THEMES WE FOCUS ON
SOCIAL MOBILIZATION
Social mobilization strengthens participation of rural poor in local decision-making, improves their access to social and production services and efficiency in the use of locally available financial resources,and enhances opportunities for asset-building by the poorest of the poor.
MARKET DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
Because we know proximity to market to sell their products is one of the major barriers leading to poverty at the rural level, and success of any intervention is a function of its sustainability and alignment with prevailing markets dynamics. RHI is carving out models that would allow rural poor to be integrated into existing markets.
ENGAGING THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES
We seek to engage the government and other relevant authorities on their responsibilities to provide safe, inclusive and sustainable cities. Our work focuses on ensuring that the three tiers of government within in Nigeria fulfill their mandate in respect to providing public safety,redressing inequality, ensuring citizen have access to basic services (especially potable water and sanitation)and upholding citizen rights.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
We see Skills and knowledge as a driving force behind the rural growth. Thus at RHI we work on building sustainable skills development towards a tangible impact.
WHERE WE WORK
Rural Help Initiatives works particularly at the Rural areas and hard to reach locations as poverty is predominantly a rural phenomenon in Nigeria. Rural Area in Nigeria accounts for 51.4% of Nigeria’s total population and 84% of the total poor population of Nigeria lives in the rural areas. Over the years, these areas where poverty is more pronounced have been neglected. The Sustainable livelihoods approach used by Rural Help Initiatives empowers poor people living in the Rural areas using the available resources around them to determine and take control their lives by gathering the right skill sets, assets (both material and social), actively allowing them to participate in democracy and general activities required for a sustainable means of living. We believe that increasing the well-being of the rural poor communities would significantly improve the National economy while reducing the number of poor people globally.
HOW WE WORK
Given the importance of sustainable livelihoods in achieving a poverty free society for all people living in the rural areas and hard to reach locations, RHI helps poor people living in the rural areas and hard to reach locations to achieve self-reliance by building their skills and knowledge, as well as providing access to resources, vocational training, support to cooperative groups, services and the market they need to sell their products. All these we believe helps in ameliorating the lives of the impoverished/marginalized populace living in the rural areas, and strengthening their confidence in the government and democracy.
RHIs livelihood intervention seeks to ensure that people living in the rural areas can achieve sustainable living that meets their basic needs, contributes to their dignity and provides full enjoyment of their human rights Our primary goal is to help the marginalized communities develop their own skills and initiative, instead of imposing services and solutions to them. We believe that they learn through experiences on how to build a livelihood and to access the information they need to engage effectively with government authorities and other people in power.
We use a community based approach in determining the appropriate sustainable livelihood for a particular community because, we have seen from experiences that communities vary in terms of the natural resources they harness and when community members actively participate in developing their own livelihood, they become more committed
MISSION STATEMENT
To have a research based approach and build acoalition of individuals to present solutions for lifting people out of extreme poverty in the rural areas in Nigeria.We intend to do this by, Conducting seminars, trainings, and workshops,Leadership development and youth empowerment programs, Strengthening traditional skills to improve livelihood (arts and craft), Surveys and community led research, Developing professional networks with like-minded individuals.
VISION STATEMENT
We envision a society where every persons living in abject poverty in rural areas and hard to reach location are being empowered with sustainable livelihood that enables them make better and informed decisions on issues that affect their well being and lives.