By Born Free | Born Free Foundation
In order to do conservation effectively, the involvement of the local community is vital. This is one of the foundations of Born Free’s conservation work and our Saving Meru’s Giants is no exception.
Along with events such as the elephant behaviour workshops we reported on previously or building the beehive fences to help farmers protect their crops from elephants, Born Free also helps communities to create alternative incomes which can help make them more resilient to climate change or conflict with wildlife. One of the ways we do this is by helping set-up Village Savings and Loan Associations.
A Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) is a member-managed group of 10-25 people who save money together and use this to support small loans to group members. This is a particularly valuable tool in communities who don’t have easy access to formal financial services. As a model, VSLAs have been set-up in over 70 countries and it is widely seen as a useful tool for assisting people to have better control over their financial decisions.
The associations usually run on a one-year cycle, with members able to take out up to three loans throughout the cycle. At regular meetings, members have the opportunity to buy shares, and it is these shares that provide the loans. At the end of a cycle, the savings and profits are shared out to group members. Groups also have the option to set up a Social Fund to help members who experience an emergency such as a funeral, loss of livelihood or housing damage. Born Free has set-up VSLAs across our two programmatic sites in Kenya: Meru and Amboseli.
In the Saving Meru’s Giants landscape, Born Free has helped set-up nine VSLAs, with a total of 163 members, the majority of which are women. From these VSLA, various social enterprises have been created, such as small-scale grocery stores, shop restocking, crop farming and goat rearing. Last year, across the nine groups, they were able to accumulate over £12,000 in savings and give out loans totalling over £5,500.
These groups are member managed and supported by Born Free staff initially. Once the set-up has gone well, a Village Agent will be appointed, and the group can be entirely community run. Across these groups, women have assumed leadership roles, enhancing their agency in decision-making processes and contributing to gender equity.
One VLSA member shared her story: “I was not engaged in any substantial work prior to joining the VSLA group, mainly relying on odd jobs for my income which was very little. After saving in the group, I took a loan of Ksh. 15,000 (£95) which I used to establish a grocery shop. I have been able to repay back the loan to the group and my business is still running. I plan to expand my business with the proceeds from share-outs.”
A similar account was shared by Patrick Kanake, one of our Conservation Ambassadors “One of our VSLA members is a single mother, who resides near Meru National Park, and has a small kiosk that suffered from stock shortages due to the pandemic and market restrictions. Joining a VSLA transformed her life; she secured a loan to replenish her kiosk, subsequently earning enough profit to support her children’s education and invest further in the VSLA.”
“She expresses gratitude to the Born Free Foundation for their financial management tools, which have also facilitated community efforts in conservation. The VSLA aids in reporting illegal wildlife activities during meetings and has actively participated in reforestation initiatives, enhancing water resources and reducing human-wildlife conflicts in the area.”
Conserving Meru’s elephants and giraffes is not possible without the local community’s involvement. The community bear the greatest losses by living alongside wildlife:crop raiding, loss of income and fear. Accessing the VSLAs enables people to be more resilient to events such as crop-raiding or climate change and empowers them to improve the financial security of their family. With increased financial security people are not just surviving day-to-day but they have more capacity to care for wildlife and the environment. As the groups gather often to hold meetings, it also offers a perfect opportunity for the Born Free team to discuss conservation issues and get feedback from the community about wildlife and the work we are doing.
“I always believed that wild animals were my enemies and disliked them for the destruction they caused in our farms, eating our livestock and destroying crops” explains another group member. “Through this VSLA group, I have been taught a lot about wildlife and now I have a better attitude towards them. I now know how to handle them so that they don’t become too aggressive. I would not kill them but deter them.”
VSLAs are an invaluable tool to help empower communities and in an ever-changing world, Born Free are proud to support communities to strengthen their resilience.
Links:
By Born Free | Born Free Foundation
By Born Free | Born Free Foundation
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