LEGASI’s impact: Empowering Kakuri women

Kakuri is a community located in an LGA located in Kaduna South on the outskirts of the city. Under the recently concluded Partnership for Peace (P4P) project in 2021/22, CareLinks one of LEGASI's subgrantees, conducted various interventions to support displaced women who fled Birnin Gwari and neighbouring communities in Kaduna due to the activities of kidnappers and bandits.  

The IDPs who settled in Kakuri became stranded and had to rely on the host community which was already stretched for their livelihood and shelter. Through a trauma counselling session, CareLinks reached out to a group consisting of 21 women and one man. During the session, one of the main outcomes was the urgent need for the group to be supported with livelihood skills. LEGASI supported CareLinks and the group was trained on Village Savings and Loan Scheme (VSLF) which served to ensure the women become financially independent to help them survive in their host communities.  

To ensure the long-term success of the project, the women from Kakuri used the knowledge they gained and formed a women's group (Alheri Zumunta) at the IDP settlement camp where they were staying. Interestingly, the head of the IDP camp settlement, a man, also joined this group after witnessing the progress made by the women, with encouragement from his wife. He now serves as the secretary of the Village Savings and Loan Funds. 

The group pools their funds together to provide soft loans to support their small businesses. Initially, when the women arrived at the camp, they didn't have any specific activities or income sources for their families. However, this group has introduced this opportunity.  

To ensure the system operates smoothly, among the twenty-two members of the group, three different women hold the keys to a small metal savings box and meet in the presence of all members when they need to deposit or withdraw money. They also maintain a ledger booklet to record all financial transactions. 

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These are small but crucial steps in improving the livelihoods of the Kakuri women, and other smaller groups of 22 can replicate this savings method to further their own development. 

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Discover more of LEGASI's work on their website: https://www.legasi.org/.