Opinion: Empowering women and reducing poverty
Thanks to various initiatives that empower deprived and vulnerable women in underserved communities in the country, ordinary women like Amorisom Ndego Biambogo are now experiencing “positive changes” in their lives.
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About five years ago, her life was next to nothing. Beaten into submission by poverty and overwhelmed by the cares of this world, she could hardly support herself, let alone her seven children.
But now, things are different and she has a new résumé – “I’m now an entrepreneur with employees working for me in the ‘pito’ business. In addition to this, I farm and trade in onions; life is now bearable and reasonable, my children are content, one is now married, another is in the senior high school, the rest are all schooling,” says Amorisom.
She was just about leaving the Garu market for her home in Asongtaaba when the writer chanced upon her in a CARE International branded Polo shirt.
It was market day at Garu in the Garu-Tempane District of the Upper East Region, and as has become her habit these days, every Wednesday she goes to the market to sell onions bought from other farmers.
Amorisom’s confident posture and beaming smile tell the story of a woman with a thriving business and improved livelihood.
She is just one in a hundred women in some rural communities whose lives are turning around for the better as a result of activities of non-governmental organisations.
Amorisom and other women like Ayapoo Ndebale who make malt sorghum and sell to pito brewers in their community will forever be grateful to non-governmental organisations such as CARE International and its partners for creating the life-changing opportunities for them.
The VSLA Scheme
The starting point of their breakthrough was the formation of the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), initiated by CARE International. VSLAs are self-selected groups (predominantly women) who voluntarily come together to save money and make loans through regular member contributions to a central group fund.
They typically consist of 15 to 30 members, who invest savings in a loan fund from which members can borrow, and repay with interest over a period of nine to 12 months. During this period, CARE or its partner staff train and supervise the VSLAs.
The groups also operate a small insurance fund to address emergencies. Money is handled solely by the groups themselves, and all the interest paid on loans become a return paid on their savings.
All transactions are carried out at meetings in front of all members of the association, promoting transparency and accountability.
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VSLAs do an annual share-out at the end of the cycle, often after one year of functioning and start afresh for the next cycle.
By distributing all or part of the money at the end of the cycle (usually 12 months), the members receive a lump sum for investment in whatever activities or assets. Members are free to contribute whatever amount they can afford from 50 pesewas and above every week.
According to a CARE Project Officer, Ms Leticia Apam, the VSLA provides women in particular with three products – “savings, loan and insurance as well as the guarantee of accessing funds in times of emergency.”
She explains that the association is guided by a constitution and members meet monthly to discuss related issues. Another Project Officer, Issahaku Hardi, said, “At the end of the year, members receive their monies with accrued interest and then they start another round of savings.”
CARE International rolled out the VSLA concept in Accra in 2001, working with communities, schools and churches in Nima, Agbogbloshie, Lagos Town, Mallam and Makola.
The Assistant Country Director of CARE International in Ghana, Christine Aching, says she is happy with the success of the VSLA in economically empowering women in particular. “Therefore,” she says, “The VSLA concept is now mainstreamed into most of CARE Ghana’s projects, providing women with financial capacity to diversify their livelihood opportunities, and also to use the platform for women’s capacity building and information sharing in various thematic areas.”
VSLA is not meant for women only, but the focus is on women because “they are the most defenceless and marginalised in terms of access to land and other resources,” says Issifu Adama of the CARE International Sub-office in Tamale.
As part of the VSLA scheme, beneficiaries are also being linked to banking and financial institutions to ensure security of the funds collected and offer members a broader range of financial services.
Other women empowerment initiatives
Other initiatives that have helped enrich the lives of poor rural women are the Pathways and PROMISE projects which seek to actively engage women and girls in cowpea and soya bean value chains. Activities under these initiatives are structured in a manner to tackle all aspects of the lives of the beneficiaries, including their nutritional and financial status.
Consequently, entire households and communities in the Mamprusi East District of the Northern Region and Garu-Tempane District of the Upper East Region have benefitted from increased knowledge in maternal and child nutrition. Households now understand and are providing nutritional and improved diversified diets for members.
Additionally, women have gained more access to land, agricultural extension agents, technologies and information services at the community level resulting in increased agricultural production.
CARE International in Ghana
CARE International began operating in Ghana in 1994 in three districts in the Western Region. Twenty years on, the organisation has touched many more districts, contributing to the overall development of many communities nationwide.
CARE International works with the government, district assemblies, NGOs, deprived communities and the private sector to enhance the socio-economic development of the country.
CARE’s Co-ordinator for Maternal, Child Health and Communications, Ms Mercy Nyamikeh, describes the organisation as one that “promotes gender equality, economic empowerment and improved livelihoods through partnerships”. She says, “CARE fights poverty for all by focusing on girls, youth and women with programmes that bring lasting change to whole communities.”
The writer is a PR Practitioner and a Journalist