Households become more financially efficient when both spouses are involved in the identification and achievement of the Household goals and trust each other. This implies distributing the household chores, the business activities and the decision-making regarding the income and expenses. The GALS and FALS methodologies provide households with different tools that help them identifying their challenges and actions in order to find trust and harmony.

Farmers often lack income – or perceive a low amount – in low agricultural seasons. For this reason, it is important for them to diversify their income by getting involved in off-farming activities. Examples of this type of activities are participating in other parts of the value chain like processing, packaging, or distribution.

A key underlying aspect of VSLA groups is the trust among participants. People new to be sure that everyone is going to act in a honest and trustful way and will comply with the basic rules and ways of operating that the group follows. Different best practices offer different tools that can be applied to create a trustworthy atmosphere and enable the VSLA to work efficiently. Some of these are, for example, inviting people who members of the VSLA already know, joint development of record keeping and constitution of the group, etc.

A big challenge for engaging more people in rural finance in Nigeria is that, normally, literacy is needed to be part of a VSLA group. This – often – affects more women than men in rural areas. Different best practices have develop numbering systems that are created according to symbols that are used or common in the context and that allow for people who do not know how to read and write to participate from these groups and relate to different actors in the financial market.

Joseph Choga comes from Zimbabwe. On 2013, he obtained a Master’s Degree on Development from the University of Limpopo, in South Africa. Since then he has been working for over 20 years and has a vast experience in rural development, especially in relation to the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology. Joseph has provided trainings and developed manuals on GALS and also on the Financial Action Learning System (FALS) methodology across Zimbabwe and other African countries. Additionally, Joseph has a vast knowledge on micro-financing models, including Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). His main skills in relation to this topic are on the formation and development of VSLA groups using the graduation approach.