It all adds up: Any extra money goes into the communal pot and is shared at the end of the year
Village savings groups change the lives of small-scale farmers
Leizl Eykelhof
The Munavalate Saving Group in Pambarra is very proud of its progress. Last year, they managed to save almost $5,000 raised from their agricultural pursuits.
This money was made available for loans by members in order for them to improve their homes and businesses.
Anita Damião, 49, sold her surplus vegetables and thatch and is planning to build a new home.
“Since I started saving last year, I have seen changes in my life and those of the other group members. Most of us can dream now, this community is raising a lot of money due to the integrated ForAfrika agriculture project,” she said.
VSLAs
The Munavalate Saving Group is one of ForAfrika’s Village Loans and Savings Associations (VSLAs). The groups are provided with tools and seedlings and other support to start small agri-businesses. They are then given business training that focuses on loan policies, interest rates, management fees and record keeping. Members are allowed to borrow money at a 10% interest fee and all monies are used to build the communal kitty. At the end of the year each member receives their portion of the profits.
“Some people have bought building equipment, like Anita, and others want to open small shops with their savings,” says Nordino Vicente, ForAfrika’s provincial manager.
“VSLAs brings to them autonomy, flexible loaning mechanisms and competitive fees, which are lower than those of formal financial institutions,” he says, adding that the group is now confident to run the savings groups by themselves.
The Munavalate Saving Group, which comprises 22 women and three men, have inspired their neighbours to open their own savings groups.
“Twenty other community members have created their own group because of the success they saw last year,” Nordino says.
“We no longer are what we were in 2020 when we started; people know the value of money,” concludes Anita.
Leizl Eykelhof is Communications Manager
