Women’s Cooperatives: More Than Just A Workplace

        Cooperatives provide women with the support and resources to become financially independent without inhibiting their individual identity.  Artisans with specific skills are encouraged to start their own businesses with help and support from the coop.  Their products are sold at fair trade prices and are often marketed by the coop to international retailers.  When evaluating economic growth in the context of reducing poverty, inequality and social justice, it is evident that cooperatives create direct opportunities for the poor to earn enough money to sustain a decent level of living.

Over the last few years women’s cooperatives have become more than a workplace.  Case studies show that the cooperative movement can alleviate poverty both by providing the basic needs of the poor and by tackling some of the causes of poverty. They help to solve housing needs, improve access to capital, mobilize savings, develop women's potential in generating income and improve health and nutrition.  Many of the women involved in coops have lived through unspeakable atrocities and violence.  The coops have offered these women a support group where they can heal from these horrible acts and hopefully move forward. 

In the Congo, women’s coops not only help women to become financially independent, but they serve as a place for survivors of the war that has plagued the Congolese population since the 1990’s to tell their individual stories about how they were affected by the conflict.  The process of discussing what they went through to the other members of the coop, who share similar experiences, serves to put closure to these horrible episodes and allow them to move on.

In one of these Congolese coops a woman named Clara recently told her story.  She was tied to a tree and blindfolded.  She listened to her sister sobbing and screaming while armed men violently raped her.  She waited in terror knowing that she was next.  After the rape both women were beaten and left to die.  Clara survived.  She attributes the women’s coop as instrumental to her recovery.  Today she has a profitable soap business and has enough money to be able to send her son to school.  The cooperative has allowed her to take charge of her life and look to the future.

African Women Start Agriculture Businesses

African women are the glue that binds the society's fabric together. Even in urbanized African societies, women are the backbone of family and national stability.  Despite the enormous contribution women make to all aspects of the culture they are often forgotten and rarely consulted when new initiatives and technologies are implemented.   This is especially true with respect to agriculture and food security.  Despite the fact that African women do most of the farming and produce 70% of farm produced food they are the ones to bare the brunt of the worsening food security situation on the African continent.

Researchers maintain that even though women are the pillars of the African agricultural sector, they lack the technological skills to boost productivity.  Technology can help women farmers by reducing their workload while increasing their productivity and income.  By using a value chain approach that places emphasis on all aspects of the production process and teaching basic business skills designed to view the farm as a small business, agriculture can be a profitable business for African women.  With the establishment of micro finance funds poor subsistence farmers would have access to small loans enabling them to buy seedlings and other farm equipment needed to expand their farm into a small agricultural business.

This strategy was implemented in a Kenyan village where the women maintained acres of banana trees.   Teaching these women new technologies along with business skills enabled them to increase banana production.  This greatly reduced malnutrition in the community and significantly increased the average income.  The development of these women owned banana farms not only led to the economic empowerment of women in the village, but also appreciably contributed to the reduction of poverty by providing food, education and better health for many families.

Women's Cooperatives Empower Maasai Women

In traditional Maasai communities the main economic activity is raising livestock, but Maasai women are culturally not allowed to own livestock and are expected to depend entirely on the men for their survival.  They rarely finish grammar school and are usually married in their teens.  The establishment of Women’s Cooperatives in these communities has helped to empower the women and facilitates their financial independence.  These cooperatives also help women to become more self-assured and have helped them find their voice so they can contribute to village meetings on social, cultural, economic and political affairs.  The Maasai women who are involved in the cooperatives have become role models to other women in their community.

Directly outside of Tarangire National Park is a Massai Women’s Cooperative where women work together making traditional beaded jewelry and woven baskets.   By pooling their resources, the women are able to sustain their own business and also establish a sustainable business community.  The NGO that started this cooperative provides the women artisans with financial and management support through a series of initiatives including creating direct market linkages for the products they make by coordinating the sales of these products to retailers and on-line stores around the world.  They also help to finance cash flow by providing upfront micro-loans for the production of high quality goods and hands on training in basic business skills such as new product development, strategic planning, bookkeeping, marketing, and quality control.

Now that Maasai women have their own business center life is much easier for them. They have a stable market that enables them to budget and maintain financial control over their lives.  Many of the women have used some of their profits to set up other small income-generating businesses and their success has given them access to bank credit so that they can further expand.   Not only are they learning new skills, but they are educating their children and look forward to a brighter future.

Micro Loans Provide Light In Remote Parts Of The World

      When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the India, millions of people are without access to electricity and must rely candles or flammable and polluting kerosene lamps for light. 

     Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stymied economic development, literacy rates and health.  These solar powered devices have allowed people to increase their productivity, improve their health, socio-economic status and in general the way they look at their future.

     A vegetable seller in northern India took out a loan to buy a solar lantern that she uses to light up her stall at night. The lantern costs about $75 USD or about her weekly income.  The vegetables look better with light, it’s cheaper than kerosene and it doesn’t smell.  The investment in the lantern allows this woman to increase her income by 300 rupees ($6) more each evening.

     In India, solar power projects funded by micro loans are helping to reduce carbon emissions and achieve the goal to double the contribution of renewable energy to 6%, or 25,000 megawatts, within the next four years.

Off-grid applications such as solar cookers and lanterns provide several hours of light at night after being charged by the sun during the day.  They help cut dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the world’s fourth biggest emitter of the carbon footprint.  In addition, these projects significantly improve the quality of life and reduce the carbon footprint.”

     In Africa too, micro-loans are bringing solar systems to homes, schools and cottage industry businesses in remote regions that are off the grid.

Poor people use money they would have spent on kerosene to pay back their loans for the solar devices.

Women Find Economic Freedom Through Microfinance

     For too long Latifah, a Kenyan cloth merchant saw her slim profits slip away as fast as they came in. Daily expenses quickly ate away at her earnings as she struggled to keep her business afloat and supplement her husband’s meager pension so that they could provide for their five children. She never imagined she would ever be able to save over $1,000 until she learned about an organization in Nairobi that was giving women entrepreneurs micro-loans.

     Latifah’s mother started the business and together mother and daughter have been selling colorful African cloth for many years.  They have a small stall in the marketplace near their village.  Over the past few years the area has become quite popular with tourists going on Safari. In order to compete with other cloth vendors they needed a larger space and more inventory for their business.   To make matters worse, Latifah’s family needs and expenses kept increasing.  

     When she heard about a non-profit organization in Nairobi that was giving small loans to women to start businesses, Latifah thought it was too good to be true, but set out on her own to Nairobi to apply for a loan.  Much to her surprise (and relief) she was granted a $60 loan that she used to purchase cloth in bulk.  This purchase significantly increased her profit margin.  It took only six-months for Latifah to pay back the loan and put $60 in a savings account.

     Over the last two years Latifah has received more small loans and repaid them quickly.  Her life has changed dramatically and her business is flourishing.  Since she started saving, Latifah has bought bedroom furniture and a refrigerator for her home.   Her children are regularly attending school and are doing very well.  The micro loans gave Latifah the freedom to be able to earn her own livelihood and build a future for herself and her family

International Women's Day

In 1975, during International Year of the Woman, the United Nations celebrated March 8 as International Women’s Day.  Two years later the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights to be celebrated each year on March 8.  By adopting this resolution the UN cited that in order to secure peace, social progress and fundamental freedoms for all people in the world women must have active participation and equality.

For women of the world, March 8 signifies a time to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development.  It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.  Each year a different theme is highlighted to mark the day.  In looking at many of the themes studied in the past such as violence against women, gender equality and human rights it seems like we have not made much progress.  Let’s try to make a difference this year!!!

The theme for March 8, 2010 is

Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all!

Over the next few weeks, leading up to March 8, WomenTeachingWomen will not only explore this theme but take specific actions to help make the theme’s message a reality.  Please sign up at womenteachingwomen.blogspot.com to see what you can do!!