VEBEC

Uganda’s financial sector has been known for having one of the lowest savings to GDP ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Statistics from Bank of Uganda indicate that the number of total population holding accounts in banks is four million with the savings to GDP ratio at just 16 percent compared to other regional counter parts.

Most of these bank accounts exist in urban areas yet more than 70 percent of the people in the country live in rural areas. This leaves them with limited saving opportunities.

We know how important it is to save for that something or that special day. 

We know how important it is to save for the special something or day.But have you ever imagined saving in egg currency?

Dragule Swaib and Feni Gard will amaze with their project Village Egg in Egg Currency (VEBEC) which enable you to save in egg currency.

This is one of the projects being incubated under ResilientAfrica Network supported by USAID which is under MakerereUniversity School of Public Health. The project is in line with ResileintAfrica Network’s mission of strengthening resilience in Africa through innovative solutions where it seeks change rural people’s attitude towards savings.

 

The duo came up with this idea on realising the problem of saving in rural areas due to limited financial institutions and the lack of knowledge about saving.

This innovation seeks to change people’s attitude towards saving in whatever they do such that they can survive during the time when they are less productive.

This team that comes from the rural areas of West Nile received $36,750 from Resilience Innovation Challenge 4Adverse Climate Change Effects (RIC4ACE) during the launch of ResilientAfrican Network’s first “State of Africa’s resilience report” to pilot their project.

The innovation looks at eggs as a source of wealth for the rural people who have no formal employment. It introduces a new disruptive form of currency that can be channelled in to savings through regular deposits of eggs to an egg bank by rural farmers. These eggs are then immediately sold and the money is taken to banks. Both the farmer and the seller keep the records. 

Unlike in urban areas where people have bodies like National Social Security Fund (NSSF)

who provide a platform for saving, this is not the case with the rural poor who toil even in old age.With the induction of eggs as means of saving the farmers will be able to earn at least one thousand shillings (1000) every day from a minimum of three eggs. In a month this is thirty thousand (30000) which they could not earn before. These farmers can then be put together in to groups where they can lend each other. They can also get loans from the bank since they will be credit worthy and the banks can now lend them without fear.

Mr. Dragule who is also an assistant lecturer at Makerere University College of Computing says they chose eggs because every household in rural areas have poultry and they are very familiar with taking care of them. The eggs are portable and tangible there by making it easy to be used as the element.

They also wanted to avoid issues of seasons. “Right now our region is facing drought. All the crops we had planted have been burnt by sun; if we had something like this project the villagers would not drastically be affected,” noted Mr. Dragule. 

The team  argues that this project will boost food security since eggs are rich  in food nutrients and will  also help to create entrepreneurial ideas through training.

They also intend to carry on with the local birds since the people are so familiar with them and they are easy to take care of.

The brilliant innovators say that this model can be replicated for other farm and off farm products as an incentive-driven way of produce bulking for market leverage among very small holder farmers. 

They encourage young innovators to learn how to work with trust worthy organisations like ResilientAfrica Network so that their ideas can be tested. Youth should also look at problems as opportunities to come up with new ideas and perfect the already existing ideas.

Compiled by Communications and Engagement Department ResilientAfrica Network(RAN)
(Achiro Jennifer, Byomuhangi Owen,Musisi Henry, Nalunga Winnie and Nuwagaba Kenneth )