Characteristics of community savings groups in rural Eastern Uganda: opportunities for improving access to maternal health services

Abstract

Background: Rural populations in Uganda have limited access to formal financial Institutions, but a growing majority belong to saving groups. These saving groups could have the potential to improve household income and access to health services. Objective: To understand organizational characteristics, benefits and challenges, of savings groups in rural Uganda. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study that employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. Data on the characteristics of community-based savings groups (CBSGs) were collected from 247 CBSG leaders in the districts of Kamuli, Kibukuand Pallisa using self-administered open-ended questionnaires. To triangulate the findings, we conducted in-depth interviews with seven CBSG leaders. Descriptive quantitative and content analysis for qualitative data was undertaken respectively. Results: Almost a quarter of the savings groups had 5–14 members and slightly more than half of the saving groups had 15–30 members. Ninety-three percent of the CBSGs indicated electing their management committees democratically to select the group leaders and held meetings at least once a week. Eighty-nine percent of the CBSGs had used metallic boxes to keep their money, while 10% of the CBSGs kept their money using mobile money and banks,respectively. The main reasons for the formation of CBSGs were to increase household income, developing the community and saving for emergencies. The most common challenges associated with CBSG management included high illiteracy (35%) among the leaders,irregular attendance of meetings (22%), and lack of training on management and leadership(19%). The qualitative findings agreed with the quantitative findings and served to triangulate the main results. Conclusions: Saving groups in Uganda have the basic required structures; however, challenges exist in relation to training and management of the groups and their assets. The government and development partners should work together to provide technical support to the groups.

‘Nurture the sprouting bud; do not uproot it’. Using saving groups to save for maternal and newborn health: lessons from rural Eastern Uganda

“…Members of saving groups can borrow out of the collection, agreeing to repay the money later at a small interest. The income earned from the interest is kept within the group and shared out among members at the end of a pre-defined cycle according to the proportion of their initial contributions[15–17,19,22]. Some saving groups also have a social fund, which is a form of limited self-managed insurance to which all the members contribute a set amount and can get interest-free loans for emergencies [15–17,22].…”

“…The income earned from the interest is kept within the group and shared out among members at the end of a pre-defined cycle according to the proportion of their initial contributions[15–17,19,22]. Some saving groups also have a social fund, which is a form of limited self-managed insurance to which all the members contribute a set amount and can get interest-free loans for emergencies [15–17,22]. A detailed description of the saving groups in the MANIFEST study has been provided in one of the papers in this supplement [22].…”

“…Some saving groups also have a social fund, which is a form of limited self-managed insurance to which all the members contribute a set amount and can get interest-free loans for emergencies [15–17,22]. A detailed description of the saving groups in the MANIFEST study has been provided in one of the papers in this supplement [22]. …”

“…Money from saving groups has also been used to meet the cost of illnesses, such as malaria, to meet the cost of transportation to health facilities, or to improve access to information on topics such as malaria prevention and HIV [17,22]. In Pakistan, women who saved with community-based saving groups (CBSGs) were more likely to utilize maternal health services, such as antenatal care and delivery care, than those who did not belong to CBSGs [23].…”

“…Additional details about the intervention are available in the study design paper [8]. Key characteristics of the saving groups are further described in Mutebi et al [22], while information about how we worked with the saving groups is provided in the methods section of this paper.…”