The low down on the co-operatives

One of our most effective projects we work with here is our women's micro-finance co-operatives. These community groups help the villagers manage their finances to escape debt and to grow their income. The concept is very simple, like most good concepts and provides very real benefits to the members.


We also provide saving boxes for children, to help build good saving habits. Here Ashok counts the monthly savings.

To start with the basics we work with the women, this is because that the women are usually more responsive to changing how they operate and also are more responsible. The villagers are vulnerable to exploitation by loan sharks and middle men. Many go into debt to buy seed at the start of the season and struggle to service the massive interest or are contracted to sell their produce at a lower price at harvest time. We begin with basic literacy and numeracy training in the village. This also empowers the rural women, some of whom used to find going into town overwhelming as they were unable to read any signs. After the initial training the women form their co-operative by voting their representatives in and doing all the exciting paperwork. At this stage of the process CDRA is heavily involved, providing guidance, structure, funding and auditing. Once the co-operative is established the members start saving into the communal pool of money. CDRA usually funds a small start-up fund to help get the ball rolling. Once a member has proven a good saving history they can take a loan out at a greatly reduced interest rate. This loan must be for business purposes, such as buying new seed or livestock and buying a new TV just won't cut it. The member will then pay the loan off over the next year and be able to reap the proceeds of their investment.

This family used a micro loan to start a bee keeping business

This way all the money is coming from within the village and they are helping themselves instead of waiting for a hand-out. As each group gets more and more self-sufficient then our role reduces. We still provide guidance and auditing monthly but the groups are more than capable of doing the day to day running themselves. Another benefit of these co-operatives is that it provides a motivated community group within the village for other projects. We often utilize these groups when running projects such as health camps or school programs. Instead of a collection of individuals we begin to see a community group. As the groups grow they sometimes begin to create their own business, for example several of our co-operatives will bulk buy fertilizer in town for a greatly reduced rate and sell it to their members for a rate far cheaper than they would get from the middle man.

Doing some exciting paperwork at a monthly meeting

Most of these co-operatives have been running for some time and are firmly established in their community. It is encouraging to see so many people who can see the opportunity in front of them and are willing to work to make it happen, rather than wait for a hand out.

The women in charge