Empowering rural women, vulnerable groups: Savings scheme improves lives in northern Ghana
Many young ladies and women in general in some parts of northern Ghana are now able to take charge of their own lives following the introduction of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA).
A village banking methodology, VSLA, is alleviating poverty and curbing the upsurge of rural-urban migration among rural communities in the northern part of the country.
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Currently, most women and other vulnerable groups no longer travel to the south, especially Accra and Kumasi to do menial jobs to earn a living.
The VSLA offers the productive poor, mostly in the rural communities, the opportunity to purchase shares and lend to themselves with agreed interest rate on group basis.
The activities of the association run in cycles of about one year, after which the accumulated savings and the loan profits are shared among the members according to the amount they saved.
Jaksally, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is one of the leading NGOs which have been implementing the scheme in the area as part of efforts to improve the livelihoods of women in rural communities and lift them from abject poverty.
Improving lives
According to some of the beneficiary women, the introduction of the scheme, which was not regulated by any identifiable body in the financial sector, had not only brought peace in their homes, but also changed their lives economically.
During a recent visit to Chache, one of the beneficiary communities in the Bole District in the Savannah Region, it was observed that the women were put into groups and were supporting each other with soft loans through their weekly contributions.
Members of the finance committee checking the collection
In the Chache community, about 60 beneficiaries mostly women from two groups, namely Simantaa and Biawuribi who started the savings with a capital of not up to GH¢500 in September 2020, shared among themselves, GH¢12,839 and GH¢23,760 respectively.
A beneficiary, Madam Adwoa Komikye Ablodor, said: "Through the VSLA, I was able to take a loan to start a business in the village and I have been able to repay and make more profit.”
"For now, I am able to take proper care of my children’s educational needs," she said.
Another resident at Mamprugu/Moaduri District, Mrs Fuseina Yakubu, who used to travel to the south for menial jobs for the family upkeep, said she had stopped because she had been able to raise funds from the scheme to start petty trading.
Impact
The Chief of Chache, Chachewura Iddisah Amankwa, who is also a member of the scheme, said the introduction of the VSLA in the area had made significant impact on the well-being of the people, particularly women and children.
"I joined the scheme in Bole but when I was made a chief of the community, I made efforts and the NGO extended it to the community and now my people are able to pay their children’s school fees, do their farming activities and business," he said.
Savings culture
For his part, the Director of Jaksally, Mr Jeremiah Seidu, noted that the main objective of the intervention was to help inculcate in the people, the culture of saving and create opportunity for them to generate income to improve on their livelihoods.
He said his outfit had introduced the scheme to a number of districts across northern Ghana, which was positively impacting on the lives of the people.
He therefore urged the women to always invest their shares of the savings into lucrative ventures so as to improve their income levels.
Per the scheme, the women make weekly contributions as savings to the group’s executives, and they are able to secure loans from their contributions.
With this, they are able to get credit to support petty trading and purchase implements for farming.