Women’s Economic Empowerment
Overview
Our Women’s Economic Empowerment Program is designed to help provide women with the knowledge and resources that they need to thrive in their communities. We work with 22 different groups of women throughout the Monduli region, providing various trainings, tools and support systems to help them achieve success.
Microloans
Every women’s group receives a net sum of $1,000,000 TZS (approximately $440 USD). This “seed money” functions as a fund for microloans, which members draw from to invest in individual projects. Individuals receive loans only with the entire group’s consideration and approval.
Women also receive training in financial literacy, bookkeeping, and guidance regarding entrepreneurial ventures. However, most of our beneficiaries are illiterate, making it difficult during business training. In order to ease financial literacy and record keeping training, we decided to supplement basic literacy sessions in between weekly meetings. These sessions are designed to teach simple accounting and the Swahili language which helps the business women to interact with customers in local markets. As a result of these sessions, women have stated that they now recognize the currencies and are able to properly count.
Our Loans
Currently, all loans carry a set interest rate determined by the women’s groups themselves. This rate is 50% lower than typical interest rates in the community, and thus WAEV loans are more accessible to the women we work with, allowing them to more easily pay back borrowed sums in time.
Allowing our groups to collectively vote on a rate gives them a sense of autonomy and compels them to think economically about long term growth rates: with these set interest rates, seed money has the potential to grow significantly over time. This potential for growth is something that excites each group as it allows them to expand their entrepreneurial ventures in time through larger loans as they gain more skills and a better understanding of business operations. To give an idea of the seed money growth: from 2019 to 2022, the seed money of our first three groups more than tripled, amounting to over 70,000,000 TZS ($30,434).
Entrepreneurial Successes
Since founding our microloan program, over 340 women have started or grown sustainable businesses. Some successful ventures include: establishing a small retail shop, production and sale of vegetables and jewelry, and buy-and-sell enterprises in solar lights, petrol, and other goods. The average repayment period is 1-3 months, though repayment varies and is determined by the nature of the loan. So far, our women have achieved a 100% repayment rate!
To ensure that these interest rates remain viable and loans are repaid in time, WAEV regularly follows up with the women on their progress. Though there are no issues with the current loan system, interest rates and groups’ capital are re-evaluated on monthly basis.
Before I joined WAEV, I never thought of doing any business — I didn’t know how to. As of now, I’m running a full time business at home. I bought five goats last year, and I just began to loan small amounts of money to my neighbours from the profit from my business.
— Namuru Lalaito, Group 1 member
Access to Water
Access to safe, potable water is a significant issue in the Monduli district. Women are often responsible for collecting water for their families, but the journey to the nearest earth dam reservoirs takes many hours every day. Additionally, this water is seldom filtered and can pose various dangerous health risks. One goal of this program is to combat these issues that threaten water security and pose health risks to the community and help increase access to safe water supplies.
In 2020, WAEV began focusing on finding a more convenient and reliable source of clean water that could solve many of the current issues around water security. So far, 115 women and their families have received 2000 liter polyethylene water tanks to collect rainwater. These women have been able to collect water mainly for drinking, but also for tasks such as laundry and dishwashing. Any resulting greywater is also repurposed for watering trees and irrigating vegetable gardens.
Menstrual Health
In 2021, we expanded our program to also focus on improving menstrual health among local girls and women. To do so, we collaborated with another non-profit called the TATU Project who helped us to educate individuals on relevant issues and provide re-usable sanitary pads to girls at Lendikinya primary school.
In collaboration with the TATU Project, we provided menstrual health educational sessions to 70 students, and provided 50 students with sanitary pads packages. Prior to this training, we conducted a need assessment and we found out that 50 percent of students were using pieces of clothes as pads during their periods. Through this assessment, we also noticed that periods are still considered taboo in the community. WAEV and the TATU Project also worked together to educate WAEV's women's groups to raise awareness of these issues.
Sustainable Gardens
Through our women’s groups, members receive access to seeds, and the tools necessary to establish vegetable gardens at their homesteads. An agricultural specialist from WAEV provides training on sustainable agriculture practices and vegetable production.
The women mainly plant leafy green vegetables like kale, lettuce, and nightshades, as well as carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, onions, and round potatoes. They have noticed that leafy greens grow especially well during the heavy rains that come with the wet season.
Vegetables provide a source of nutrition for women and their families, while also increasing overall food security. The traditional Maasai diet lacks many important vitamins and nutrients which are now supplied through these gardens. Many of the women we work with have noted that they believe their overall health has improved thanks to this new vegetable intake. In addition, surplus vegetables can be sold at local markets as for a much needed source of income.
In early 2022, we introduced drip irrigation systems to allow for vegetable growth in the dry season. Our hope was that they would more efficiently deliver and conserve water, build resilience to the region’s frequent droughts, and enhance plant productivity. We found these systems to be successful, and for the first time, 30 gardens were able to persist through intense drought conditions.
Future Plans
We look forward to intensifying business training and increasing the seed money amount to enable women with big visions to access enough funds to invest in their businesses. We also intend to link matured business women with financial institutions to allow them to access extra financial aids. Furthermore, we’re exploring other environmentally friendly business ventures that we could introduce to our beneficiaries.
