Happy International Women’s Day
The opportunities for women economic empowerment are limited and there are very few alternative sources of income. The lack of financing and land ownership are additional barriers to women’s economic empowerment. For the past year, KTDA Foundation with support from Uniliver, Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) and other partners have been supporting the economic empowerment of women smallholder tea farmers in a pilot project in 4 KTDA managed tea factories.
The project focuses on organising farmers in groups of 25 through the promotion of Village Savings And Loan Associations (VSLA). These groups constitute 70% women and 30% men and through the groups, the tea farmers have managed to pool savings and raise sufficient resources to build livelihoods and to fund their household needs. By providing women with access to savings and credit, VSLAs represents the first step towards economic empowerment.
“I am happy with this project because I have access to loans, which have enabled me to buy vegetable seedlings to plant in my garden for my use and the surplus I sell and I also buy milk that I resell at a profit”
Linner Sigei, Tea Farmer, Toror Tea Factory
Linner’s Story highlights opportunities that access to finance can provide to women, who are often excluded from financial services. For her, access to money has meant that she can have additional sources of income to support her family.