Village Savings and Loans Associations in Ghana and Togo Build Household Resilience
In Nabore, a community in Ghana’s Savannah Region, Alex Soore emerged from his farm with a smile. He had just finished a village savings and loans association (VSLA) meeting with strong Fulbe attendance and participation, where he served as secretary. He said, “The Fulbe chose me to be the secretary of their association because most of them don’t have a financial education and do not understand how to account for their money. They trust me because I live in this community and grew up with them.”
Alex’s participation in an inter-ethnic (Fulbe and non-Fulbe) VSLA group meeting is unique. In many parts of northern Ghana, the combination of a contentious relationship between settled farmers and Fulbe herders and climate change-related impacts to the region exacerbates issues over limited land and other natural resources, often leading to violent conflicts. These tensions are made worse by stereotypes that portray the Fulbe as foreigners and bandits. As a result, the Fulbe tend to settle in the periphery of towns and villages—something that then limits their access to socio-economic resources such as access to water, education and healthcare. Additionally, the Fulbe struggle with inter-group conflict and a caste system that imposes a social hierarchy among them. These tensions create significant vulnerabilities that violent extremist organizations (VEOs) can exploit.
VSLAs provide the Fulbe with a way to interact and work together, both with each other and with people outside of their ethnic group, while building household resilience to financial shocks. Members contribute to their VSLA by saving on a regular basis and building up a base of funds, which are then available as credit to all members for emergencies or income generating activities. By relying on the principles of trust and accountability to function correctly, VSLAs also strengthen community bonds. Once established, those bonds improve communication among members and provide a strong buffer to violent extremism influences.
VSLAs Improve Community Dynamics in Northern Ghana
OTI’s Littorals Regional Initiative partnered with two organizations, the Center for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies (CECOTAPS) based in Damango (Savannah Region), and the Social Initiative for Literacy and Development Program (SILDEP) based in Tumu (Upper West Region), to promote cooperation among the Fulbe—and between the Fulbe and other ethnic groups. Together with these partners, OTI launched an initiative to train over 1,500 individuals from 40 high-risk communities across both regions on financial literacy, conflict resolution and management, and preventing violent extremism (PVE). Additionally, the training equipped participants with soft leadership skills such as communication, team building, and bookkeeping. In the Savannah Region, the initiative led to the formation of 61 VSLAs composed of Fulbe and non-Fulbe members, as well as some farmer-only and herder-only VSLAs. Father Clement Aapengnuo, the Executive Director of CECOTAPS, remarked, “If Fulbe herders and non-Fulbe farmers can come together to build a system that helps them financially, then there is contact, there is dialogue, and there is discussion.” As of July 2023, these VSLAs have collectively saved more than $21,000, and their members continue to cooperate and support one another to reduce their social and economic vulnerabilities.
Building on the successful implementation of the VSLAs in the Savannah Region, OTI also supported the formation of 30 additional VSLAs across communities in the Upper West Region. In addition to raising $7,600 for their communities, the benefits extend beyond financial security. By their very nature—one of collaboration and profit-sharing—the VSLA groups also require increased communication and partnership from their members. This in turn contributes to reducing economic vulnerability, enhancing a sense of belonging, and improving intra- and inter-ethnic dynamics within the communities. Alhassan, a Fulbe in a mixed VSLA, recounted how these improved community dynamics directly impacted him when a non-Fulbe member supported him as he faced harassment by immigration officers. He said, “I was singled out and asked to get off a bus headed to Wa town because I didn’t have a Ghanaian ID card, but Madam Comfort, a non-Fulbe member of my VSLA group, came to my aid and defended me in front of the immigration officers.”
The VSLAs also provide a forum to address diverse community issues. In the Upper West Region, discussions about the benefits of childrens’ education contributed to a significant shift in mindset amongst Fulbe members. In August 2022, three Fulbe families from the region’s Nandom Municipality enrolled 12 of their children in primary school for the first time. Their community did not have a school, so the families used money from their VSLA to rent a room in Nandom town and arranged for a woman to care for the children while they attended school. This investment in education will increase the likelihood of their children leading better lives, and will reduce their vulnerability to recruitment by VEOs.
Empowering Women Through VSLAs to Combat Extremism in Northern Togo
Northern Ghana’s vulnerability to violent extremism is not unique. In neighboring Togo, OTI works with community members to address similar rifts by establishing VSLAs to strengthen community ties. For example, in northern Togo’s Kpendjal prefecture, Sanwogou Nabagou Soumi assisted more than 200 women from her community to establish seven VSLAs. This work stems from a comprehensive training she participated in, facilitated jointly by OTI and the organization Réseau des Femmes et Développement des Savanes (REFED/S). The training covered VSLA management, income generating activities, leadership and advocacy on PVE, and combating gender-based violence.
Following the training, REFED/S helped women participants, including Sanwogou, establish 54 VSLAs in their communities. This led to participants taking initiative to train other women, leading to the establishment of 17 additional new VSLAs, bringing the total number to 71 and counting. Within months of their establishment, the 71 groups raised $3,000 for a solidarity fund, as well as an additional $44,000 in credit funds between January and June 2023.
Further emphasizing how motivating the establishment of VSLAs can be for communities, 45 women trainees from across northern Togo came together and committed to moving from community to community to establish more of these credit-saving groups and ensure that no one is ‘left behind.’ Between January and June 2023, they integrated 203 displaced women into VSLA groups in various communities. REFED/S now seeks to enhance their impact and replicate the success they’ve seen in northern Togo through cross-border collaboration with two other OTI grantee organizations based in northern Benin—Sukatignina and Havre de Paix. The organizations use the WhatsApp platform to share experiences and best practices in addressing women’s economic vulnerabilities in the context of violent extremism. This collaboration has already seen movement—in northern Benin, the partner organizations worked with OTI to set up VSLAs in the communities of Karimama, Malanville, and Banikoara. Additionally, OTI worked with northern Benin’s Women Peace Ambassadors Network to develop 13 VSLAs that now actively conduct small-scale businesses like soap and shea butter transformation. OTI is reviewing requests for follow-on support and determining what that will look like in the area.
Across the region, these OTI-supported village savings and loans associations are reducing the economic vulnerability of their members, strengthening community bonds, and serving as a critical bulwark to violent extremist influences.