VSLA Initiative Helps Rural Woman Build Climate Resilience In many rural villages across Malawi; disasters recovery is often as hard as the disaster itself. Rural areas typically do not offer enough employment opportunities.
Worse still, communities also have little access to capital. As such, most households rely solely on subsistence farming. Consequently, this leaves them highly vulnerable to various natural disasters like floods and unpredictable weather patterns.
Due to such an economic landscape, bouncing back better after a disaster remains a distant dream for many rural households. Fortunately, this reality is gradually shifting in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Mposa, Machinga, where the Loans and Saving Groups (SLGs) initiative is helping families to rebuild resilience.
The SLG initiative was introduced in 2023 by YONECO, with support from the Foundation S. The financial support is meant to build community resilience in the context of climate-induced health challenges.
The approach began with the training of 25 community members from Mposa area. The trained cadres were tasked to facilitate the establishment of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) in their designated localities.
For Tiyanjane Banda (34), a mother of three, the introduction of the VSLA initiative announced a turn of the tide for her family. Tiyanjane decided to turn her savings into livestock wealth. Through the VSLA, Tiyanjane managed to consistently save money. At the end of the first cycle, she accumulated enough funds which she used to purchase three goats marking the beginning of her small-scale livestock farming venture. By 2025, her investment grew significantly. Within a two-year period, Tiyanjane’s herd increased from three to 12 goats.
Heartrendingly, the 2024/2025 farming season was affected by heavy rains that caused severe flooding that destroyed crops fields in some parts of T/A Mposa’s area, leaving many families destitute. For Tiyanjane and her family, the livestock investment automatically became a lifeline. Tiyanjane managed to sold some goats and used the money to buy food and paid tuition fees for her children.
Additionally, she bought mosquito nets for her family members as the risk of malaria significantly increased due to trails of stagnant water that were left by the floods and became breeding grounds for malaria-causing mosquitoes.
To date, Tiyanjane continues earning from the livestock venture. She further intends to access a loan from her VSL group in order to diversify her sources of income.
