VSLA Groups in Lobule, Koboko District

Members of the different VSLA Groups formed in Lobule refugee settlement in Koboko District

Lobule refugee camp is located about 15 kilometers east of Koboko Town in Lobule Sub County, it is a settlement camp hosting Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugees in Uganda. Lobule refugees are mainly from the areas of; Turupa, Gombe, Morodu, Gaaki, Lisoka and Pamara in Aru Territory, Ituri province in Eastern Democratic republic of Congo. The refugees in Lobule are enrolled on cash based transfer programme where each beneficiary is entitled to Uganda shillings 31, 000 per month to improve access to food and ensure that crisis-affected people consume adequate and nutritious diet in times of need.

In order to build on the momentum created by other global initiatives and to sufficiently address the Sustainable Development Goals of; no poverty and zero hunger, AFOD designed a VSLA Approach consisting of self-managed group for refugees to provide opportunity for members to save, obtain emergency insurance and access loans to invest in income generating activities to raise household income, eliminate poverty and promote household resilience. The immediate outcome of this integrated complementary strategy is yielding results in Lobule through enhanced knowledge and adoption of financial literacy skills thus improving savings culture, money management and budgeting among refugees in the refugee settlement. In Lobule there are 14 Village Savings Groups formed with 410 members. 325 of the members are women representing 80% and 85 are men 20% with a total amount of Uganda shillings 47,524,400 (12,845 USD) contributed and saved by members.

In an interview with group members, here is what they say about the savings group, Jane a 38 year old refugee who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2013 at the height of insurgency by the then M18 rebels is married with 7 children, a resident of Lobule Sub County, Ajipala Parish, Mijale Village in Waju II since 2013 shares on how she has benefited from the VSLA; ‘I am now able to borrow some money from the savings group to pay school fees for my 6 children which I pay back with some small interest. Recently I borrowed 50,000 Uganda shillings and bought chicken which laid eggs, I also bought seedlings of egg plants, okra and rice that I planted and I hope to get a good harvest to sell and earn some income. Although I am not educated, I have gained some financial literacy skills through AFOD and it’s a blessing’.

Denis a 30 year old secretary of Asakayida savings group in Adolongo cluster, zone B tells a story of how their saving group has brought a ray of hope to refugees, “this savings group was started on 27/11/2017 with a total of 30 members (9 male and 21 female) who save 10,000 Uganda shillings per person. The group consists of only cash beneficiaries who are Congolese. We have managed to save 9,376,000/= Uganda shillings and accrued an interest of 8,894,000/= with a 20% interest per month making a total amount of 18,270,000/= that we just shared in November 2018. We are looking to invest our savings by buying chairs for hire and a grinding mill in order to get more profits.

Mary who came to Uganda as a refugee on 19/10/2013 aged 56 years says, ‘80% of our savings come from casual labor i.e. we go and work on the farms of the host and the money we get, we take to our savings group and 20 % of the rest of money is from our entitlement. Through savings, we have managed to get loans and investing in agriculture, used part of it for paying school fees, invested in business and health care, many members have learnt about record keeping. We learned the ideas of savings through AFOD cash team that have given us financial literacy education’

Gadhafi a 46 years old refugee who came to Uganda on 30/10/2013 says, ”Before joining the group, our income was so low, we had no access to loans to solve our problems, poor money management and record keeping was a problem. But thanks to AFOD for the financial literacy education given to us during sensitization, mobilization and pre-address usually done on cash distribution days, we now have the knowledge, will and ability teach others”.