BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County – One customer at a time, Rebecca Blankson Hurriy is having a good market day. As one leaves another enters. Community dwellers troops in routinely to purchase items from her shop. She sells assorted item – food, detergent, and cosmetics, amongst others.
By Tina S. Mehnpaine, with The Liberian Investigator
A few years ago, Rebecca sold only scratch cards and provided mobile money services. But her investment in the Village Saving Loan Association (VSLA) has improved her business.
“You see my shop here that’s because of this saving first only that box,” she said, pointing to a wooden box.
In 2021, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), with funding from the European Union (EU) introduced the VSLA in 24 fishing communities in Liberia. Small Fanti Town, along the coast of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, where Rebecca lives is one of the beneficiary communities.
When Rebecca received LD$ 53,000 at the end of the first year of the VSLA savings, she began the construction of her shop.
VSLA is a self-managed financial scheme that empowers women financially and enables them to actively participate in decision-making endeavors such as community leadership, and access to start-ups for businesses. Members of the VLSA are divided into groups, Rebecca is the secretary of Group Four dubbed “Women of Love”.
Rebecca showing how loans are disbursed.
The group meets on Sundays, and each member holds at least a share worth L$200. Group members are eligible for a loan after every three months but must present three guarantors within the group. The loan must not exceed the savings of a shareholder.
There are 30 to 34 individuals per saving group. The interest collected from loans is divided amongst t
group members which are add to the savings.
Rebecca takes records of the savings, per the VLSA laws and the money is kept in a well protected metal box provided by EJF.
“The box has three keys, and we gave it (the keys) to three persons, that don’t live together. The person keeping the box can’t keep the keys (sic),” she adds.
Unlike borrowing from a bank, the VLSA does not require huge collateral such as land, house, or car. VLSA members get loans once they present three guarantors.
In communities with limited access to finances for businesses, VLSA serves as a scheme that helps women gain financial stability.
In Liberia, the VLSA is also popular in fishing communities where most residents have low incomes. Women in these communities are mostly fishmongers, and make up more than half of the fisheries workforce, according to EJF. They are responsible for processing, selling, and storing fish.
According to EJF, women play a significant role in the fisheries sector, but they do not actively participate in the fisheries decision-making processes.
In this article, the EJF quoted Emma Metieh-Glassco, Director-general of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) says her job is to uplift women in the artisanal fishing sector.
“I take [being NaFAA’s Director-general] as an opportunity given to me to increase the visibility of fishmongers – women that have been working in the fishery sector that have been marginalized, that have been sidelined,” Glassco is quoted as saying.
Musu Dorley London, EJF’s technical Officer for Gender, and Community Participation, says women have not been included in the fishery governance, adding that VSLA is a platform closes tye gap.
“There are a lot of women that own canoes now as a result of the VSLA,” she said. “Women initially did not have money so when they started to save, they started to gain relevance and it even helped to bring them together.”
Since 2021, EJF has trained 870 women fishmongers and processors in VSLA concepts and processes and established 29 VSLAs in 24 fishing communities in four coastal counties, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi, and Grand Kru) in Liberia.
Twenty-three of these VSLAs have completed the first cycles and distributed their savings and interest amongst 689 members.
According to an EJF report titled “Levelling the Playing Field,” Accessing the impact of the VSLA, between 2021, and 2023, the VSLAs saved L$58,522,244.30 (US$305,599.19).
‘All is not Rosy’
During the rainy season, fishermen face threats from high sea waves causing canoes to capsize on top of the rising sea level caused by climate change. During this time, fishermen do not go to the sea for fear that they will encounter danger, and women who depend on fish-mongering to pay their VSLA shares do not make income.
“Our husband cannot go fishing because the sea is rough, and if they don’t go fishing, we will not be able to sell and pay our shares,” says Elizabeth Muhlenburg, another member of the Women of Vision Group-1 in Margibi County.
Poor meeting attendance and difficulty retrieving loans are the two major setbacks that leaders of the VSLA have noticed. Also, poor waste management including plastics and harmful chemicals are killing and contaminating fishes. When plastics stayed in the ocean, they break into microplastics contaminating food through soil, and water harming crops.
A 2016 report by the World Economic Forum says by 2050, there will be more plastics in the oceans than fish if the current trend of plastic pollution is not reversed.
Moreover, dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as fisheries has made Liberia highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Liberia’s average temperature is 25 degrees census. Liberia has two seasons: rainy and dry seasons. Relative humidity reaches 90-100 percent during the rainy season, and 60-90 percent during the dry season, according to World Bank climate data. The annual temperature is 25.7C, with observed monthly temperatures ranging between 23.9C in August, and 26.8C in March.
Annual precipitation is 2,467.07 mm means the monthly precipitation of the country varies from 27 mm in January to 408 mm in September. Rainfall occurs throughout the years, with peak rainfall occurring from June to September.
Call for Help
“EJF need to help us with cash to be able to help us pay our due. Our husbands are not going on sea because of the rain and the sea rough,” says Christiana Asia, a member of the Women Vision Group 1 in Margibi County.
She said the training provided by EJF is not enough to help boost women empowerment, adding that EJF should provide support for them during the rainy season when catch declines.
James Logan, Secretary General Liberia Artisanal Fishermen Association, supports this call. “If you go around and listen to the testimonies of women how this village savings have impacted their lives it will shock you we want it to expand to other counties,” Logan said.
But Madam London, EJN’s technical Officer for Gender, and Community Participation, said EJN only provides training and materials such as metal boxes, locks, ledgers, passbook, pen, calculator, rubber band, and clothing bag for the VSLA women.
“The concept of VSLA is not to give money. We only trained. The women raise their own money, share, and loaned each other,” she said.
Discussion about this post