Zimpapers Logo

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief 

Village savings and lending groups have helped villagers to access funds to cater for their financial needs, especially during emergencies.

A village savings and lending group is a group of people who save together and take small loans from those savings and pay it back with interest. This initiative has helped to empower communities, especially women economically. Some of the groups who are running these projects contribute money monthly towards the savings and lending pocket. Other villagers are operating various livelihood projects and they set aside some proceeds towards the savings and lending project.

The project has become a mini bank where the rural folk can access cash in case of emergencies. The village savings and lending have been rolled out in a number of villages with the assistance of various development partners. They are being conducted at group and village level.

Ms Oppah Ncube who is a member of Arise and Shine Group in Mapate Village in Gwanda said their savings and lending project became valuable for her when she wanted to pay exam registration fee for her Grade 7 child last term.

She said it also helped her to clear school fees for her child.

“I have a child who will be sitting for her Grade 7 examinations this year. When it was time for them to register for their examination I didn’t have money. In addition to the project we have as a group I also have a poultry project but at the time my chickens were not yet ready for sale. I then turned to our savings and lending group for money,” she said.

 “I got the money and later I started paying it in instalments and I have managed to clear the payment. The savings and lending project really helped because I don’t know where I would have got the money to pay for my child’s examination fee. I also used part of the money to clear my child’s school fees arrears.”

She said she has also borrowed the money and used it to buy chicken feed.

Ms Ncube she said her group charges 20 percent interest on a loan.

She said they were also running a garden project and detergent making project. Ms Ncube said they established the projects with the assistance of Hand in Hand Zimbabwe. Ms Ncube said they received training on savings.

Mrs Judith Ncube from Natane area in Bulilima District said they have a savings and lending project as a group of 10 members and as a cluster of seven groups with 80 members. She said they were working on establishing another savings and lending group made up of different clusters with 45 groups. She said they were looking forward to growing their savings.

“In 2010 we started our savings and lending project as a group and then in 2020 we came together as seven groups from one cluster and formed another savings and lending project. Our loan comes with 10 percent interest. We have a marula processing project, pen fattening and poultry project,” she said.

 “After selling we allocate some of the profits towards the savings and lending project. We also have some money that we share amongst ourselves for our personal use. Saving has really helped us a group because in cases of emergencies we have place to turn to.”

She said they have also assisted some business people within their community who are not members of the group with loans.

Ms Sithabile Dube from Diba Village in Bulilima District said they started their savings and lending group last year after they started their garden project. She said so far a number of group members have significantly benefited from their savings.

Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Matabeleland South provincial development coordinator Ms Majorie Skhundla said Internal Savings and Lending Schemes (ISALS) have helped to empower many families. She said many village groups have now adopted the concept upon realising its benefits.

Ms Skhundla said development partners working with Government have empowered villagers to start these projects. She said villagers have also been trained on how to save money and its benefits.

“Development partners have come in to complement Government under the ISALS project. They have come in with social information and economic empowerment initiatives. ISALS have helped to reduce gender based violence cases because community members are now occupied and economically empowered. ISALS is about starting with the little that you have. Groups can start by saving any amount they can afford and by the end of the year this money makes a huge difference,” she said.

Ms Skhundla said some villagers have gone on to mobilise groceries which they share at the end of the year as part of saving initiative.–@DubeMatutu