This video gives you an insight into the lives of two casual agricultural workers from Rwanda. Reflect on what they have to say about their savings group.

Casual agricultural workers are the poorest in rural Rwanda. They struggle to save money or to build assets. They also see their employment situation as a poverty trap. Empirical research shows that casual agricultural workers, especially women, have a high demand for money-saving options – despite the fact that they earn only one USD a day.

Access to financial products is important to open up new livelihood strategies and to break out of the poverty trap. However, the access of these casual agricultural workers to the formal financial sector is either non-existent or very limited. A possible solution is to empower people to form savings groups and to evolve their financial skills.

Anonciata Musabyimana and Sylverie Mudaheranawa are members of different savings groups in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In this video, they talk about their membership in the savings groups, their achievements as a group and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listen to what they have to say. We suggest that you take notes of your observations.

References

Bigler, Christine; Amacker, Michèle; Ingabire, Chantal; Birachi, Eliud (2017): Rwanda’s gendered agricultural transformation. A mixed-method study on the rural labour market, wage gap and care penalty. In Women’s Studies International Forum 64, pp. 17–27. DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2017.08.004.

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