Empowering women against natural disasters through savings

“Our group started with 27 women in the village and has grown to 30. Now, eight more groups have been organized in neighboring villages after they learned about the savings group”, says 30-year old Lydia, a mother of four. Every month each member contribute a minimum of MZN110 (US$2) and the collected amount is divided among those who want to avail of a loan.

There is no requirement for the loan, as long as one is a good-standing member and attends the monthly meeting regularly. “We do not declare where the money will be used but all of us invest it on small businesses where we can earn decent income”, she explains. She added she opened a small food shop in her village. Her loan of MZN 2000 (US$36) was fully paid on time.

“We did not have the opportunity to borrow and start business before. When El Nino happened, we never really got affected that heavily because we were earning and has savings. Now we are able to buy our own things, especially our children’s, and provide for our family’s basic necessities”, Lydia adds. They got engaged in a variety of income-generating initiatives such as small shops selling oil, airtime for mobile phones, sugar, food and vegetables.

Over 100 women in Chibuto District are now part of these eight savings group organized by World Vision Started three years ago, the program made 32-year old Sandra Mugabe more confident as a mother because she said she can now provide for her children's needs, from food to school things. “The impact of the long dry season was minimized because of the available loan for us”, Sandra shares.

A mother of 4, Sandra sells cooking oil and food stuff from the loan she got in the savings group. When El Nino hit their communities, the women said it became their refuge for their families' basic needs. Each member is eligible for a loan of up to USD500. Due to the high demand for loan, they divided the available fund among themselves to ensure everyone is assisted.

Their track record is impressive - no member has so far defaulted in payment. Lydia says, “The record is open for all the members and the box keeping the records and collection is locked with the three keys in safekeeping of three different members.” She added that in case someone cannot pay a loan, it will be checked why and all the members participate in the decision-making how to solve the case.

The group also provides for a social fund that assists members for hospitalization and death benefits. Sandra adds, “Aside from earning an income, we gather together monthly and it also helps us learn from each other.”

Across the country, about 458,564 farmers covering 864,201 hectares of farmlands were affected by drought representing 17.3% of total cultivated area. About 18,178 livestock farmers are affected by drought, 692,606 cattle at risk and 4,372 cattle died in drought affected provinces. World Vision’s agriculture assistance has reached 1500 families with diversified seed distribution in Guijá district.