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Uaminifu SACCO
Group run organic farming and making money work.
Uaminifu
SACCO was formed by graduates of EcoVentures International's
Environmental Enterprise Training Program after they recognized a need
for small amounts of business capital for their new and growing
businesses. Now in its third cycle, Uaminifu has 17 members, 14
of whom are active, the other three being out of town for education or
other purposes. Through EVI's Environmental Enterprise Development
Initiative, Uaminifu received funding from the Artemisia Foundation
earlier this year. They had originally planned on using this
funding for a group social project dealing with environmental
enterprise. However they realized, wisely, that they were
currently not organizationally ready for such a project. They
decided grow the money by loaning it out as part of loan capital, thus
making the money work and grow while they prepared for developing their
project, a women's group-run organic
farm.
Steps taken:
Due to the risks associated with adding outside funds to loan capital,
prior to dealing out loans, Uaminifu decided to take some precautionary
steps by holding group discussions about principles of business and
dealing with finance. The members drew from their business
training at the Global Education Partnership as well as their personal
experiences. No one was the trainer, but rather everyone
contributed, each using their education and experiences to feed into
the group. The training went over the course of a day and the
group also decided how they were going to loan out the large sum of
money
Businesses that have been started or invested in since the influx of
funding include building stock of beans and maize during the season to
sell at a premium in the off-season, collection of charcoal for
wholesale selling, the import of special fabric from Dar es Salaam, and
brick-making for building purposes.
Recent updates:
Uaminifu has planned to begin a small organic farm as their group
business. One of the group members is providing a small plot of
land for the initial farm itself. The SACCO has requested
training from EEDI partner Juma Kahema, of Maweni Farms, on organic
farming by early next month, so that they can begin their gardens with
the upcoming rainy season.
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