Benin Savings Groups Open Opportunities to Earn
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
In northern Benin, 79-year-old Mariam Bio Barka lives and works in Gando village. Despite having lost her left leg to an infection when she was a young girl, Mariam never had any trouble keeping up with the other farmers. Each day, she would leave her home and walk, using a prosthetic leg, a few miles over uneven roads. She spent her days working in the fields—tilling, sowing, weeding and harvesting. In the off seasons, she would carry home heavy bags of coal to sell at the local market.
But just recently, Mariam noticed that she wasn’t able to walk as well as she used to. She began to worry how she would care for herself and her family if she couldn’t work. Not wanting to burden her daughters, who had families of their own to care for, Mariam began looking for other ways to earn money.
Mariam Bio Barka uses loans from her SILC group to buy materials in bulk to make shea butter soap. Her group was formed as part of the economic strengthening component of USDA’s McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition program.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
She met some women from a neighboring village who make shea butter soap—something she could do from home, seated. The materials are available locally and there is demand for this soap at the market. Mariam asked to be trained.
While she was eager to get started, Mariam still faced the obstacle of finding start-up capital, since not eligible for a bank loan.
With help from a Catholic Relief Services field agent from the Keun Faaba program, which translates from the local language as “supporting education,” Mariam learned about Savings and Internal Lending Communities, or SILC. She and 29 other women formed a SILC group called Nonkannera, which translates as “strength in unity.” Together, they began saving small amounts of money each week.
Mariam Bio Barka, left, makes shea butter soap with her apprentice Madeline Andre in Gando village in northern Benin.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
After some time, Mariam was able to take out a small loan to buy the materials needed to make her own shea butter soap. Now, she earns $7 in profit each time she makes a batch of around 30 bars.
“SILC and shea butter have changed my life,” Mariam says. “Without SILC, I couldn’t have found any money to make soap. And without soap, I would have no money. I would just sit at home idle, with no work.”
She uses the profits to reinvest in materials and to buy food and other household necessities. When she has a little extra, she helps her grandchildren with their school fees.
Mariam Bio Barka, a SILC group member, displays her finished batch of shea butter soap.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
Mariam also recently started training other women to make shea butter soap. For this, she earns about $70 over the course of a few months of training.
“Thanks to SILC, it gave me the strength to better my life,” Mariam says. “And the changes will just keep continuing for the better. I continue to pray for my good health and the health and prosperity of my family.”
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The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program, MGD21 - also named KEUN FAABA III - in local language, is a five-year (2021-2026), multi-sectoral project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and implemented by Catholic Relief Services in Benin. In partnership with the American Institutes for Research, Caritas Benin, and the Organization for Sustainable Development, Reinforcement and Self-promotion of community structures, and alongside a cohort of national ministries, Keun Faaba III aims to provide daily meals to schoolchildren, improve student literacy via strengthened teacher capacity, promote good sanitation practices, and ensure the quality of locally sourced school lunch ingredients. The project works with more than 110,000 children, teachers, and parents in 168 schools across four municipalities. To help increase economic activities and help families afford school enrollment fees, parents are encouraged to take part in Savings and Internal Lending Community groups.
