SMALL LOANS PROJECT

 

The African woman is often heralded as the backbone of the home. However, notwithstanding this fact, cultural and social norms are often not supportive of women’s involvement in business, this is especially true in the rural context. Accordingly, many aspiring female entrepreneurs lack access to supportive networks and remain subject to time poverty and heavy reliance on the support of a man or a husband. The dependence on the male breadwinner often results in the dire strife of the household in the event of the male breadwinner’s death, absence or abuse.

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This concept of the “strong African woman” often results in women exposing themselves and their children to grave risks and harm from their abusive male partners, and failing to remove themselves from such a destructive environment, all in the name of being “strong” and resilient for their families and the fear of hardship should the male party decide to desert the home or vice versa. This in itself stems from the lack of empowerment of the African woman, especially in the rural context.

About 60% of the women to whom Ambuya Development Centre (ADC) caters to are neglected by their husbands, who spend much of their time either abusing alcohol or merely failing to accept the responsibility and role of being the breadwinner of the household. These women are often abused by their partner (emotionally and/or physically), and are often exposed to the results of HIV/AIDS pandemic which bears a responsibility to care for orphaned children left by relatives who died. There are far more female headed households today than ever before.

ADC understands the importance of the role of the women to the sustainability of their households and the care of their children, and believes in their leadership potential. Accordingly, the organisation has been working with the African women in rural Thanganyika Village, Blantyre, Malawi, in a venture to empower female headed households, widows, divorcees and vulnerable women to be industrious and improve the nutritional status of the children in recipient households.

Research by the United Nations (UN) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has highlighted that “globally, there are 122 women aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty for every 100 men of the same age group”. Notwithstanding their crippling financial status, a significant number of rural women are often left to care for extended family members and children who are left orphaned by parents who often succumb to HIV/AIDS.
The fact that “agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40 per cent of today’s global population, It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households. Furthermore, 500 million small farms worldwide, most still rain fed, provide up to 80 per cent of food consumed in a large

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part of the developing world. Investing in small holder women and men is an important way to increase food security and nutrition for the poorest, as well as food production for local and global markets.

The UN’s research findings indicate that “if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million”.

In an endeavour to empower these women, ADC collaborates with over 200 women in rural Thanganyika Village, Blantyre and provides them with leadership coaching, business training and entrepreneurial opportunities through its small loans programme which enables women to start small businesses, which includes farming, petty trading and other businesses. The small businesses present an opportunity for these women to generate income to sustain their children and households. In the short­term, the programme builds the confidence and self­esteem of these women and exposes them to the countless opportunities that stem from running a successful business and building stronger social networks.

In the long term, ADC anticipates that the women who are empowered through the small loans programme will be less likely to accept physical abuse from their male partners and will less likely be subjected to abject poverty.

Moreover, it is anticipated that the small businesses will gain notable growth in the long term, which will not only ensure that each of the affected households have sufficient income and resources to care for their children but also allow these business owners to employ others and accordingly empower other families, whose growth cycle can have a notable impact on the countries hunger and poverty statistics.

ADC is committed to the sustainability of the programme. As such, the small loans programme is run by ensuring that each beneficiary receives basic training in literacy, numeracy and business management skills, before the loan is dispensed with.

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Further to the above, the beneficiaries are encouraged to build strong social networks amongst each other in order to support each other in their respective business ventures and keep each other accountable and refrain from misusing the loaned finances.

ADC’s small loans programme aims to improve rural women’s situation economically,  challenge social inequality and improve women’s voice in the public sphere. The organisation is gradually seeing the concrete, measurable and sustainable results of empowering rural Thanganyika Village, Blantyre’s women. However, in order for this to prove to be a long term sustainable project, there is need for a consistent source of funding in this area for amongst other things, capital, trainers and training material and resources.