5) Description of health product/service offering: Dealing with malnutrition of children under five.

The vision of the Canadian cooperative is prosperity, health and healing for all. It is based on the concept that the leaves of indigenous plants ex. maize, beans, squashes etc. can be utilized, after a basic extraction process (which can be performed on a community level), as a ‘leaf extract’ protein micronutrient rich supplement that has shown to eliminate malnutrition in young children. (ref. www.leafforlife.org ) It is also based on the concept that communities and particularly rural communities need to come together in consultation in order to develop the autonomy to run their own income generating, health producing projects, in this case, choosing vegetables to grow, deciding on best marketing practices, coordinating leaf extraction and distribution of the supplement to children in the community. A Centre for training of project managers who will ultimately be responsible for training managers in local communities around the world, offers the basic project workshops in community consultation, basic nutrition/nutrition and hygiene for mothers of young children, appropriate agriculture techniques including planting of drought resistant trees, companion planting.., leaf extraction, running a small business. The Centre, now formed as a co-operative, also offers workshops by its members in the Ottawa Valley region of Canada in various health promoting fields such as reflexology 101; suicide prevention based on the Virtues Project and other sources promoting self-esteem, etc. as a source of income for the cooperative’s international ‘leaf extract’ projects.

The local communities around the world who take on a Leaf Extract project and are initially supported by one of the Centre's project managers, are invited to form their own cooperative and become members of the Centre cooperative ensuring each project's sustainability.

6) Description of innovation: supplementation currently involves inputs from `developped`countries The project assists local people to produce their own supplementation and develop their autonomy. An Association in France currently coordinates projects who use a leaf extract from alfalfa produced industrially. Our objective is to assist communities in identifying local plants that may be used to produce the extract, and assist in the community organization that will allow participants to establish and maintain a small industry to produce and distribute the extract supplement.

7) Operational model: First, training project managers in basic workshops which they will ultimately share with local communities (in Africa, aboriginal communities in Canada and the US) The participants in local projects (beginning with several African and Canadian aboriginal communities)with whom the workshops are shared will grow vegetables, plant drought- resistant trees around the gardens,market vegetables, produce a protein vitamin rich extract from the leaves of the locally grown vegetables, distribute the extract to local children in need, consult with project managers about further income generating activities in their own communities, collaborate with the 'Centre for Training' based in Canada in maintaining the 'small business endeavour' sustainably

8) Human resources: The cooperative now has interested people in over 5 African countries, Canada and the US.(between 10-15 members) The director has begun work in Lesotho. Her background is in Agriculture and Nutrition as well as Community Resource Development. Other coop partners have varied backgrounds. Certain members have expertise in seed saving, alternative health, 'mental health'etc. We have the intention of offering a programme on developing self-esteem through the Virtues Project and the gardening project as an assistance for suicide prevention in aboriginal communities in Canada and the US.

9) Key operational partnerships: SOS Children`s Villages Canada have offered support (not financially)to find communities interested in initiating the project in Southern Africa. In Lesotho,the Agriculture Ministry offered consultation about appropriate plants, possibility of leaf analysis in the Research Dept. laboratory We need to develop a partnership with a research centre to continue the evaluation of nutrient value of the leaves chosen to be used in the extraction supplement.

10) Financial Sustainability

          • Fees charged to clients?: Yes

          • How do you assure affordability?: Local community groups who grow the vegetables will receive the revenues from marketing vegetables. The Leaf extract is sold to families at a very low cost (approximately $.06 aserving) Funding is being sought for trainers and project managers to intiate the work. The Centre for Training (where youth will learn to be project managers) will charge for the training program but youth who participate and are interested in working as project managers will be able to seek sponsorship through certain international organizations to fund their training and project set-up.

          • Earned incomes as a percentage of operating costs: 10%

          • Other funding sources: We plan to be self-sustaining at a point in the future. The cooperative will bring in funds by offering workshops whose revenue will be used to start up international projects. We are currently seeking funding for trainers for the initial Lesotho project.

          • Strategy for long-term sustainability: The cooperative will bring in funds by offering workshops in the Ottawa area of Canada (members will offer a percentage of their workshop revenues) and by training youth to become project managers. Each local project will work toward financial sustainability with the sale of vegetables,possibly the sale of the packaged supplement, and other income generating projects decided upon in consultation among the community project participants.

11) Current and Future Impact

          • Total number of clients: start-up

          • Clients in the past year: starting up

          • Percentage of low-income clients: 50

          • Impact: We are starting with building revenue for the cooperative, thus clients are currently not low-income. With the official inception of the Lesotho project, at least 250 children will receive supplement in the first year and those who produce the leaf extract and sell vegetables will see a small rise in their income from the vegetable sales. An increase in autonomy and individual initiative is expected on the part of all participants.

          • Overall "market": if 1 in 4 children in Africa are malnourished; the demand for the supplement has a ceiling only in the capacity of the communities to produce the leaf extract and distribute it to the children. The workshops offered by the Centre have far reaching potential dealing with stress-reduction, improved nutrition, and suicide prevention etc in the Canadian setting.

12) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Start Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: in the first year- cooperative members offer their particular workshop to the public in Canada to bring funds into the coop; each coop member will follow the basic workshops required for project managers (as mentionned above); an initial African project and research about the best leaves to be used in each area, based on the nutritive analysis and acceptability

13) Policy change: promote local autonomy rather than `development` and supplementation from `developped` countries. End tied-aid. Ensure that funds are utilized for activities that benefit rural less well-off populations

14) Origin of the initiative: 1960`s leaf extract first `discoverèd in England. Find Your Feet began projects in the 1980`s in India and Sri Lanka. In 1995, a project description about the use of leaf extract was shared on an internet agriculture forum. The Centre for Treatment and Training cooperative director, Sandy Gershuny, decided to put it into practice and ultimately assist communities to establish their autonomy in carrying out the Leaf Extract project, improving the nutritional status and the health of malnourished children

Contact Information:
Sandy  Gershuny
director
Centre for Treatment and Training
(cooperative)
657 Pritchard Rd., Farrellton, Que J0X 1T0
Canada
Tel: 01 819 319-6223
Email: sgershuny@hotmail.com