WRITTEN BY MELISSA GILES. PHOTO BY MICHAEL PRINS.
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| Before I joined the Community Savings Group, my only occupation was farming, but since I joined I received a loan and started a small business of fruits and vegetables. Now I can meet the small needs such as soap and salt for my family from the sale of the vegetables. – Jeanine |
Through Community Savings Groups, farming co-ops and Cascade groups, families in Kayanza, Burundi no longer struggle to get by at a subsistence level. With the support of Canadian donors, FH staff are training community members to effectively transform their economic and social structures to move from scarcity to abundance.
COMMUNITY SAVINGS GROUPS
The first Community Savings Groups in Kayanza were formed in 2013. One year later, there are 11 groups meeting weekly. Nearly 300 community members have joined so far, and they’re working to increase their families’ savings and grow a community fund to borrow from for healthcare, education, small business development and unexpected emergencies.
In an area where access to institutional credit is simply
not available, the loans are having a huge impact. So far, two of the savings
groups have bought medical insurance cards for all members, and individuals
have invested in goats, pigs, rabbits, vegetable seeds and fruit stands.
Earlier this year, 42 representatives from local churches
were trained to start and run new savings groups so they can help the most
vulnerable families in their areas and train them to be leaders of newly forming
groups.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND CO-OPS
There are seven FH-supported agricultural co-ops in Kayanza. Last year they all formed business plans based on their resources, training and skills, and this year they are moving forward on the goals they set out. By working collectively, farmers are able to pool land to better plan and diversify their crops, and they’re able to invest together in higher quality seeds and equipment.
Co-ops in Kayanza farm marsh rice, peanuts, wheat, beans,
potato, corn and bananas. In conjunction with Community Savings Groups, the
co-ops are strategically looking to learn from and work with FH partnered
groups in other parts of Burundi. Several learning trips have been coordinated
between communities so that leaders can discuss best practices and possibilities
for trade.
So far, the communities have mapped out opportunities for
growth by sharing resources and processing tools. For example, Kayanza
associations have a juicer and banana wine processor which will be valuable to
banana-growing farmers in Ruyigi and Kirundo, while the associations in Kirundo
have a flour mill which can be used to process wheat from Kayanza.
CASCADE GROUPS
In this innovative way of spreading important messages, leaders
of Cascade Groups (sometimes called “Leader Mothers”) become conduits of
important health and hygiene information. Local FH staff members train the
volunteer leaders, who then go back to their neighbourhoods and teach the
lessons to small groups of their families, friends and neighbours. These small
groups commit to passing on the messages to other small groups of community
members, and so on. This “cascading” model consistently proves to be incredibly
effective in Kayanza, and in other communities and countries where FH works.
