The Production, Finance and Technology (PROFIT) Project, is a five year USAID economic growth

initiative, started in 2005 and implemented by a consortium of organizations with strong experience in

production, finance, and technology initiatives in Zambia. The Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA)

and Emerging Markets Group will work closely with a diverse group of Zambian organizations representing

both the public and private sectors including key Government of Zambia (GRZ) institutions, Zambian NGOs,

and small, medium, and large private sector firms to increase the production of selected agricultural

commodities and non-farm products for which Zambia has a comparative advantage in both domestic and

regional trade. As HIV/AIDS has had a tremendous impact on Zambia's agricultural production, using a

Wraparound Approach the USG will continue to leverage the existing platform and human resources of the

PROFIT Project to implement AB prevention activities. In FY 2005, PROFIT initiated its HIV/AIDS

prevention work with small scale farmers and reached 150,000 rural people with AB messages, trained 499

peer educators, and developed 500 community based HIV/AIDS prevention programs. In FY 2006 and FY

2007, PROFIT expanded its HIV/AIDS prevention work and reached out to a larger number of farmers.

In FY 2008, PROFIT, working together with Afya Mzuri, will reach 45,000 people in rural areas across 11

districts of Zambia with abstinence and being faithful messages, and train an additional 150 peer educators

selected from within rural communities to carry out the sensitization and continue it beyond the life of the

program. In addition PROFIT will coordinate and link its partners to the nearest CT service providers and

link to USG partners providing mobile CT services in each geographical area. It is intended that 50% of

individuals will be women. It is envisioned that Afya Mzuri will continue to provide technical guidance and

assistance to the peer educators who have already been trained under our previous partner.

The main thrust of PROFIT's HIV prevention strategy will continue to be the promotion of abstinence and

being faithful. The presentation of these strategies will be comprehensive. Abstinence and being faithful

will be presented in its context of everyday life and its relationship to agricultural production and marketing.

Topics for discussion include the medical, social, cultural and religious aspects of abstinence and being

faithful. Discussions of personal choices related to employment, study travels, personal conviction and

commitment, medical advice, social and cultural norms, religious mores, and their relationship to HIV/AIDS

prevention will be held. The overall themes that will guide the intervention are the recognition that

abstinence and being faithful are not new behaviors, but are choices that we all make for various reasons

as life evolves.

The strategy to achieve the PEPFAR targets is based on five pillars: (1) Peer Educator Training; (2)

Motivation and monitoring of existing PROFIT peer educators; (3) Production of IEC materials; (4) Mass

Sensitization; and (5) Monitoring and Evaluation.

The implementing channels of the PROFIT PEPFAR program will be through existing farmer structures,

both commercial (in the form of out-grower schemes) or organizational (particularly the Zambia National

Farmers Union and decentralized District Farmers Association networks) and will operate in areas in which

PROFIT interventions take place. Community peer educators will be provided with training manuals,

knowledge, skills, educational materials, and mass mobilization techniques to be able to disseminate AB

messages in their communities. This may be undertaken through methodologies including sensitization

sessions, drama performances, cultural activities such as dances, songs, and sports, and distribution of IEC

materials. Community peer educators will collaborate closely with other outreach programs such as farmer

trainings, field days and market days where they will be expected to deliver the AB Prevention Strategy

packages to participants. The community peer educator will be expected to implement an HIV/AIDS work

plan as well as to take advantage of every gathering of any kind to deliver appropriate HIV/AIDS messages.

With its new partner, Afya Mzuri, PROFIT will work with the already successfully trained 500 PROFIT Peer

Educators who are still operational in the districts from previous CHAMP activity. Under the FY 2008

program, Afya Mzuri will ensure that these educators continue to be motivated and mentored to maintain

their enthusiasm and continue their work in their respective communities. This process will involve regular

review meetings. A monitoring program will be developed to keep track of their activities.

IEC materials on HIV/AIDS, and specifically on AB, will be distributed focusing on the communities to be

targeted under the PROFIT project. These will be produced in English and translated into local languages

to ensure an effective transfer of knowledge to the communities targeted. IEC materials will include

brochures, leaflets, banners and posters. PROFIT will coordinate with HCP and the National AIDS Council

to ensure standardized messages and to reduce development costs.

With a core of 500 existing Community Peer Educators and with a further 150 to be trained during the FY

2008 program, all mass sensitization events will be conducted by the PROFIT Peer Educators, supported

where necessary by PROFIT or Afya Mzuri staff. The training course for Peer Educators on conducting

mass sensitizations are five days long and include not only the subjects covered in the mass sensitization

but also communications skills, adult learning and participant centered learning. The actual mass

sensitizations take place over a day. Subjects covered include descriptions of HIV/AIDS and its symptoms,

dispelling myths regarding HIV transmission and AIDS, issues relating to vulnerability to the disease such

as gender, prevention interventions, the definitions of abstinence and faithfulness, and the importance of

behavior change in disease prevention. It is anticipated that over 45,000 rural people are to be reached in

these sessions conducted by the Peer Educators in the FY 2008 program.

The monitoring and evaluation of the activities of the PROFIT Project will follow the process developed

during the FY 2005 program and will involve: monitoring of work plan activities, and maintaining up-to-date

record of achievements in relation to targets; regular reporting on monthly, quarterly and annual basis;

monitoring of course attendance through registers that show the demographic information required for

reporting; progress of activities in relation to set targets - each peer educator is given a target of

community' members to sensitize monthly and report; quality of services provided; changes in knowledge

attitude and practice; and the extent to which the Peer Educators are empowered with skills in HIV/AIDS

information dissemination, advocacy and mobilization.

Long term sustainability is an integral component of this activity. The active roles played by local and small-

mid sized enterprises serve to benefit local communities and businesses for years to come. The

organizations with whom PROFIT works have experienced the loss of manpower through the pandemic and

have taken on HIV prevention AB messages/activities as their own. HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness

Activity Narrative: messages/activities are delivered through volunteers (peer educators) within the local firms and small- mid

sized enterprises communally vested in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Based on the active participation of

the organizations currently and their willingness to absorb considerable costs to promote HIV prevention

messages and awareness and encourage strong, healthy workforces, firms will remain vested and continue

to educate and sensitize their communities with the HIV prevention messages for many years into the

future.

All FY 2008 targets will be reached by September 30, 2009.