Group savings transform rural women’s lives
ANESU MASAMVU RECENTLY IN CHIREDZI
Rural women in Chiredzi’s Nyangambe area in Masvingo Province said their lives have been transformed through group saving schemes that have seen them coming up with several projects key for their livelihood.
Internal Savings and Lending is a social transfer scheme that rural and vulnerable groups have been initiated into thanks to training from the USAID Resilience ANCHORS Activity, for the scheme known as SILC, members save funds regularly and use the saved funds to give loans to members of the group.
Under the programme, members repay the loans with an agreed interest, which contributes to the growth of the group fund.
Some of the women told Business Times that this has played a significant role in poverty alleviation.
“We are now sending our children to school. Our children had dropped out of school and were now hopeless but I had to take my children back to school and we are happy,” one of the beneficiaries said.
Another of the beneficiaries said: “I managed to put a solar system at my homestead. We used to think that was exclusive to civil servants who would get loans for such projects. Thanks to this, we are also having to enjoy such benefits.”
Several who spoke said after the first round of savings which went for 12 months, some went away with US$1000 which they used to start businesses.
Meanwhile, small holder farmers at Chipinge’s Vimbanyai irrigation scheme have received a major crop value addition boost after the USAID commissioned a US$60k agro processing hub.
The hub is expected to stimulate development of the agricultural industry through the manufacturing of agronomic production to food processing, and in this case this hub will used to process horticulture products and chilli.
Manicaland Director for Economic Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet Munyaradzi Rubaya – said collaborations of such a nature with development partners are very significant to the development of the country.
The USAID mission Director, Janean Davis, said the establishment of this agro processing hub will directly improve the incomes of involved households.
