Guardian Competition finalist Roberta Radu in Nyanza, Kenya © Kathryn Richards / CARE
On my second day in Kisumu, I met a wonderful group of farmers in the Bondo district. There, I had the opportunity to speak to Edwin. He dreamt of achieving a better life for his wife and two young children, so he decided that farming was a far better option than fishing.
He soon realised that on his own, such activities are only enough for a family’s own consumption. He wanted to make a profit. It was at that time that he started talking to friends and neighbours about the possibility of starting a group with
Bernard is another member of the group and landowner of plots that now grow banana and paw paw trees, as well as vegetables. He had inherited the land from his father, but lack of adequate education on the matter and a propensity for men in the area to dedicate themselves to fishing, had deterred him. When he was approached by Edwin and The Cherie Blair Foundation, he did not hesitate. He works with his wife who is also a member. It feels like a family business for the majority of those involved.
The group are all very excited about sharing their experiences with outsiders. Some women in the group initially shy away from the attention, but as soon as we begin to talk about the crops, they are quick to respond to all of my questions. Their hard work is truly remarkable. To see a plot of land whose potential could have easily been overlooked, grow and expand its borders with each new season is humbling. Men and women come together to learn, save, produce and do business. Someday, this land might take them out of poverty.
Enterprising women
We proceeded to Nango where some very special women agreed to tell us their stories. Dolphine owns 7 businesses in her area, but we met her in a shop for motorbike spare parts where she has recently employed her nephew. 50 years old, she is a widow and a mother of 9 children, two of whom are orphans that she has taken in following the death of their parents. Her responsibilities extend to her brother-in-law’s family, whom she is also helping to support.
The task is immense but Dolphine is not one to get discouraged easily. She works a total of 11 hours a day and claims that the only time she has to herself is when she goes to bed. Her success is unrivalled in the area, but many women in her savings group are slowly following in her footsteps, as they become more and more motivated to use loan opportunities to start new businesses.
Next we met Margaret who is a Community Based Trainer and acts as translator for a while. She is very proud of her contribution and hopes to train as many new groups as she can. She is in her 30s, has a husband and children and works in early education. She dedicates as much time as she can to training and supporting group savings and loans groups, although the pay for this is negligible.
Margaret introduces us to Bantu. She has been a widow and single mother for nearly ten years. Before joining the group, she worked a series of odd jobs but mostly fishing, which barely provided for her family. In recent years she has opened a shop that sells just about anything a household could ever need. Her children are all in school and the insecurity she was left with after her husband died seems to be a matter of the past.
Basic marketing training
The last leg of our trip around Nyanza found us in a remote settlement, a few kilometres from Bondo where the Maseno group operates on a self-sustaining basis through savings, farming and very basic marketing training. Pamela is the treasurer of the group and as we have a look at their production of seeds, corn and honey, she explains how training has helped the group. Members learn how to package and advertise their products in order to increase the asking price in the local market. Before, most members would sell the honey in old liquor bottles that they had laying around. Now they have special containers with sealed caps and self-made labels that come with information such as the name of the producer and their respective contact numbers.
Pamela has a lot of customers calling her back after buying her honey, but another member says that she has had to pass down an offer from a local school that wanted her to make 20 uniforms, because she could not access a bigger loan from her savings group. For this particular group, CARE Kenya and Barclays are trying to create linkage so that in the future they can borrow more money from formal financial institutions. The members however, are reluctant, fearing that they may not be able to pay back to a bank. In response to their growing concerns, a package is currently being designed that seeks to accommodate the needs of the groups. There is also a need for banks to create an infrastructure that would enable them to communicate more effectively with these communities.
Read Roberta's first blog installment.
Read Roberta's entry to The Guardian International Development Competition: The Power of Saving
