Investing in women’s entrepreneurship

When Baleynesh looks back on her life just a few years ago, she remembers the uncertainty that came with depending entirely on rain-fed farming.

Like many women in Ethiopia’s Bale Zone, she faced increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and shrinking harvests.

Baleynesh lives in Goro woreda, one of 20 districts where Farm Africa and SOS Sahel Ethiopia’s Forests for Sustainable Development (FSD) programme, funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia, has been working to invest in women’s economic potential.

Across these woredas, the programme has helped establish 102 women-only Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).

These groups offer women who have little or no access to formal banking a safe place to save, borrow and build the financial skills needed to diversify their incomes.

By strengthening their capacity to lead and manage their own resources, VSLAs help women unlock long-term economic opportunities.

To date, more than 2,550 women in the FSD programme area are benefiting from VSLA membership and the groups have already mobilised over Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 5.2 million, with ETB 3.2 million circulating as loans.

For Baleynesh, joining Tokuma VSLA marked a turning point.

“By chance, my fellow village women and I were invited to organise a savings group with support from Farm Africa’s Forests for Sustainable Development programme. An orientation was given for me and other women on the socio-economic importance of Village Savings and Loan Associations. After that, I was interested in joining,” she explains.

Each VSLA sets its own rules, elects leaders, meets weekly and manages funds collectively.

The system is simple: women pool their financial resources by making an agreed-upon weekly contribution, including a small contribution to the group’s social grant fund.

They then make loans to each other on agreed terms and share out an agreed amount of accumulated savings and profits at the end of each yearly cycle.

Along the way, they learn budgeting, record-keeping and business planning, strengthening their confidence, independence and future earning power.

Members meet weekly to pay in their savings contributions, discuss loan requests and consider social grant needs. To help women begin their income-generating activities, Farm Africa provided start-up support where needed.

“Farm Africa supported me and other members with six poultry chicken to get started. After a time, the sale of eggs and chickens supported my saving contributions,” explains Baleynesh.

Through her membership, Baleynesh accessed her first loan. She used it to purchase school clothing and exercise books for her two daughters.

At the end of Tokuma VSLA’s first yearly cycle, members received their ‘share-out’. Like many, Baleynesh invested in livestock.

“I used this to purchase a sheep with its lamb, adding extra from my own savings,” she explains. “My sheep now number four in total.”

Many members of Tokuma VSLA have used their share-outs and loan access to invest in livestock rearing.

With the start of a second savings cycle, the group increased its share value, encouraging members to save a little more each week. Baleynesh rose to the challenge.

“A single share value increased and I also increased my weekly contributions. With my second share-out I bought a sheep and five poultry chicken. The sheep gave me a single lamb and the poultry chicken started laying eggs. Today, I have six sheep, gained just from making my small weekly contributions.”

Baleynesh is starting to feel the benefits of her investments.

The regular income from egg sales now covers her weekly savings contributions with spare for day-to-day expenses. Her sheep are multiplying, giving her both stability and a foundation for future investment.

She doesn’t plan on stopping there. “Farm Africa’s support has been vital; they provided me with training and close follow-up. I have a plan to scale up more into other business types.”

Together, the women of Tokuma VSLA are turning small contributions into big opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship.

Learn more about how Farm Africa’s Forests for Sustainable Development programme is helping women invest in their potential: