KYOTERA-At least 730 community-based Savings and Credit Society Co-operatives [SACCOs] in Kyotera district have come together under a new arrangement to raise more funds for members as they engage in income-generating activities.
The SACCOs with 17, 500 members under the new project codenamed ‘Saving and Internal Lending Communities [SILC]’ will work together as self-help groups with common values geared towards achieving the objectives of their members by availing them with cheap capital.
The Saccos include 12,500 females and 5,000 males including entrepreneurs with small businesses, farmers dealing in perishable food crops, and animal rearing.
The facilitator of SILC project, David Mukasa said the member groups have established income-generating activities such as catering, hairdressing, weaving, tailoring, selling foodstuffs, welding, and charcoal, among others. What is needed, he said, is to mobilise funds internally for them.
He said savings to a tune of Shs 1.6 billion have been mobilised from group members in the last 12 months, with Shs 1.58bln already disbursed as loans to individual members in their groups.
He said, ”We have trained SACCO members in financial literacy, bookkeeping, and how to establish viable and profit-making projects.”
He said they give members loans from internally generated capital at a low interest rate of 0.07 percent.
Kyotera district commercial officer, Matia Kisekulo said they have mobilised similar groups in rural communities to benefit from the Parish Development Model [PDM].
He added: ”We want people at the grassroots to increase their household incomes through increased production, processing, and marketing of their products.”
Kyotera district Woman MP, Fortunate Rose said the district leadership is encouraging the youth and women to fully engage to open up small businesses and commercialise their farming and be able to contribute to their households’ essential needs such as paying medical bills and school fees.
She said with the new project [SILC], women have started gaining more respect and are increasingly included in decision-making because they are financially self-reliant.
Kyotera County MP, John Paul Mpalanyi said the culture of saving is common in some areas of the district, although he said some people are reluctant to save,” adding that the initiative of the Saccos coming together to raise funds internally is a good solution to fight poverty in the households.
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