By Brian Wasili

Mwanza, February 5, Mana: Female participants from Khudze Catchment in Mwanza district that area under Climate Smart – Enhanced Public Works (CS – EPWP) have formed a Village Savings and Loans (VSL) group aimed at investing wages they receive as one way of multiplying it thereby addressing financial challenges at household level.

In an interview during a media tour on Saturday, Chairperson of M’bawa VSL group, Lucy Alfred said the group was formed in January 2023 in order to bring their money together because they wanted it to grow and be able to meet their needs.

“We agreed not to spend it but invest in the VSL intervention so that when multiplied we could buy what we would not afford before and we will continue doing so with the subsequent wages,” said Alfred.

After working for 24 days, each of the 17 members receives K28,800 as wages for participating in various tasks such as construction of check dams, gully reclamation, making swalleys, afforestation and natural tree regeneration management when the programme first rolled out last year.

The media visit which was supported by National Local Government Finance Committee through Mwanza District council was aimed at appreciating the impact the programme was making.

 One of the VSL members, Jeany Mpapa said she got K114,000 after investing and used it to pay school fees for her child and bought timber for her house which is under construction.

“I also bought four chickens which have now multiplied to twenty. I find it important to invest in the VSL because it can look small but when multiplied you can do big things,” said Mpapa.

Meanwhile the group which is supported by Community Savings and Investment Promotion (COMSIP) has got over K1 million in its bank account.

In his remarks, Director of Planning and Development (DPD), Emmanuel Sohaya said one of the objectives of the programme is to ensure that the environment is conserved and at the same time livelihood of the communities is also transformed.

“The communities should not only look at how much they are given as wages at the end of the work but also the significance of the assets created in their areas under this programme” said Sohaya.

He commended the participants of Khudze catchment for investing what they got in the first cycle of the programme.