Baseline Study of Saving for Change in Mali: Results from the Segou Expansion Zone and Existing SFC Sites
This baseline study of the Saving for Change (SfC) program in Mali combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to document the baseline situation in an SfC expansion zone in the Segou region of Mali.
SfC is a community-based savings group program designed and implemented by Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger in Mali, Senegal, Cambodia, El Salvador and Guatemala. The report details the methodology of the teams, provides baseline results from the Segou expansion zone and evaluates the functioning of SfC programs in five villages of Mali. Findings indicate that SfC helped women:
- Address consumption needs, ensure childrens education, contribute to household food supplies and access material goods;
- Shift their livelihoods toward petty commerce;
- Change their savings mentality;
- Develop entrepreneurial skills;
- Experience the social cohesion of group membership;
- Become aware of the malaria prevention program and the importance of sanitation and health.
Key recommendations for program expansion include the development of market cooperatives, addition of other program modules, further empowerment of local actors and improvement of program evaluation methodologies.
