Savings associations open gateways for poultry farmers
Meet Baba Bukar Shettima: The only male member of Bulabulin Nganaram community VSLA group
Shettima told us he decided to join the Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA) group despite being the only male because he started the poultry business with the women. He saw the group as trustworthy and has been able to save a lot of money since he joined. With the poultry business, he is able to sell his adult chickens for 1,300, 3,000 and 4,000 naira (NGN) depending on the size, from which he buys food to feed his family.
“This contribution unites the community and with my share today, I will keep some of the money to buy more chickens after the cold weather,” said Shettima as he shared his thought about the group.
“Because I’m doing the poultry business, I started saving the money so that I can buy feed for the poultry and I use the remaining money to buy food for my children because I don’t have any other business. That’s the only place I can save money to buy things for myself and my children,” he added.
About PDR VSLA
Mercy Corps Poultry Development for Resettlement (PDR) program helps returnees faced with economic challenges to start-up poultry rearing businesses as a means of generating income. The process starts with empowering selected poultry entrepreneurs to serve as mother units using a 50-50 cost-sharing model with Mercy Corps. They are responsible for breeding day-old chicks till they are strong enough at five weeks for smallholder poultry farmers to rear. The farmers self-select themselves to establish two VSLA groups per community to help them save money on a weekly basis through contributions. After 36 weeks, they have what is called a share-out, where group members come together to receive a total of what they have each saved.
Meet Maryam Alkali Bukar: Who now owns a poultry farm, makes caps and sells charcoal
Maryam, a mother of eight, was involved in the cap making business before she started selling charcoal in a bid to get extra income to fend for her children. She was happy when she was selected as a PDR participant where she was given 10 extra chicks for the 10 chicks she bought at 500 NGN to start her poultry business. She said she sold her mature chicks for 3,000 NGN each, out of which she was able to buy a goat from the profit she sold at 12,000 NGN.
“With the money that I saved that last time, I bought one goat. The goat delivered, out of which I sold one for 12k. There are rarely many businesses in Maiduguri that produces such money. Even when the feed finished, I fed the chickens with local feeds and the business has been helping me ever since,” said Maryam.
Restoring Hope for the Vulnerable
For many returnees who have had to go through a difficult recovery journey, having lost their family members, especially their breadwinners to the crisis, VSLAs give them the assurance that there is hope in the community. Fanne Alli’s husband was killed by Boko Haram. Fanne is left to fend for her seven children and currently lives with her disabled father with 14 other family members. She tells us she will buy food with the money she received from the contribution.
Like Fanne, Aisha Adamu, a mother of 10 children also stays with her father who is disabled and cannot work after returning to find all their properties have been looted. She joined PDR VSLA because of the benefits she has seen from another savings group. With her savings, Aisha is able to start another business where she sells local delicacies and is hoping to expand into selling Kunu (a local millet drink).
“Without this contribution, I cannot save money to buy clothes and shoes for my children, pay their school fees and buy them basic necessities,” she said.
Community members also provide support to the needy with savings from the group and also contribute to social events for members such as naming ceremonies and weddings.
Every group goes through a training on VSLA methodology before they start contributions. PDR is working to support the groups to transition into cooperatives, from which community members can continue to provide extra income for themselves, thereby building sustainability.