MALAWI: Village Savings and Loans Networks Trained in Business Management
Sam Kalimba
The Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM) in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe has trained Village Savings and Loans (VSL) networks in business management.
According to Archdiocesan Coordinator for the CADECOM, Mr. Charles Matewere the training covered areas of business plan development and management of network activities.
“We are running a program in few districts under the Market Capacity Building (MCB) project being championed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Our role as CADECOM Lilongwe is to provide VSL Consultancy in the project to build capacity of the existing farmer field schools (FFS) in savings and lending culture. It is our goal to ensure that the capacity of the schools is enhanced and that they are sustainable enterprises,” said Matewere.
He further said that the training was done in collaboration with the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) Programs Assistant and other government trainers for technical know-how.
In a separate interview, Matewere said that the program is good as it raises a foundation for future cooperatives.
“It’s a good program that will see the networks grow into farmer cooperatives. We are training and introducing them to VSL concept to build their income base from within their confines,” he said.
Rachael Kapindu a CADECOM programs Officer for Kasungu District where the trainings took place said that the networks, which are a cluster of 10 to 15 VSLs that are within neighbouring location brought in their leaders for a trainer of trainers’ session with a possible replication of the knowledge once they return. She said that they are established to coordinate operations of the member VSL groups.
Each Catholic diocese in the country has an autonomous CADECOM despite having the national CADECOM at the Catholic Secretariat that oversees their work.
