Micro Finance

• A society that is committed to rapid growth and poverty reduction must mainstream issues of gender, youth and vulnerable groups in all socio-economic and political activities including investment programmes to ensure equity in power and resource allocations.
• KISCODEP has been deeply involved in gender mainstreaming activities. This is done to cement-up the glaring gender gaps that exist in women access to and control of resources, economic opportunities, power and political voices.

• We stick to the economic principle that “investment is a function of income”. Thus we engage our CBO members and other CBO partners, who are mostly vulnerable, in saving and getting loans out of what they save in accordance with the rules governing this.

 

 

KISCODEP intervention 

• The organization has introduced “mini” micro finance, where CBO members are engaged in group savings and loans (GSL) in accordance with the rules governing this activity in their various constitutions.
  

 

Benefits 

• Beneficiaries have learnt how to create wealth through investment.
• Members are able to meet the basic needs i.e. food, clothing and housing and have learnt to be self reliant.
  

 

Challenges posed 

• The organization has no capital base for the improvement of this project, as members depend on their own savings. This does not enable beneficiaries to take bigger loans for heavy capital investments.
• Some of the beneficiaries are members who are living with HIV and are susceptible to falling sick frequently. Such a beneficiary may not concentrate on his/her business and thus loan repayment might prove difficult.
• Lack of insurance for the informal businesses of these members.