This article is a part of the Women, Farmers, Vaccines: 3 Perspectives on Building Resilient Systems Through Tailored Implementation Support series.

Savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) allow unbanked small-scale farmers and producers, especially women in the rural areas of Kenya, to access credit, while Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) help bridge the gap between farmers and output markets. The World Bank, Amtech, KALRO, CGAP, and Dalberg are working together to build the capacity of SACCOs and FPOs in Kenya and particularly how they serve rural women. Three mechanisms of change will be employed: (1) Increasing rural women’s use of financial and non-financial services leveraging the national network of digitized and insured SACCOs; (2) Strengthening access to markets by providing linkage to digitized FPOs and climate-smart agtechs and agribusinesses; and (3) Ensuring integrated service provision that includes access to inputs, information, extension and capacity building, and digital technology to enhance agricultural production. All partners will leverage their mandates, expertise, and networks to strengthen approximately 1500 SACCOs and FPOs through national and county program coordination units to service 3 million farmers, 66% of whom are female, in the 45 rural counties in Kenya. 

Naoko Koyama,
Partner based in South Africa

Naoko, can we hear more about opportunities for implementation in ag-related initiatives?

Rural cooperatives can be an important bridge between small savings and credit groups—like merry-go-rounds, chamas, village savings and credit associations—and bigger providers like microfinance institutions and commercial banks. To strengthen this ecosystem, we have been working with the World Bank, CGAP, Amtech, KALRO, and the Kenya national and county governments to build the capacity of Kenya’s SACCOs and FPOs to better serve rural women.

Together, we’re designing, testing, and scaling up financial and non-financial solutions to meet the unique needs and aspirations of rural women. We’re also working to strengthen and transform the structures of rural cooperatives to make sure that women are meaningfully taking part in—and leading—their decision-making processes. We are also working closely with community-based researchers and supporting capacity building to establish a feedback loop in local communities.

At the same time, we’re attempting to capture the voices and experiences of a sample of the actors at each layer of this ecosystem, and to share what we learn with the ecosystem. What makes this unique and so interesting is that these insights will take the form of a story-based and evidence-based series.

Are you optimistic that this will lead to long-term change?

Yes, because we’re focused on women and addressing the systemic barriers they face. We are focused on designing products and services, as well as governance and processes with communities and women at the center, so that these grassroots organizations will eventually automatically design products and services for their members that include many women. We want to increase rural women’s use of financial and non-financial services by taking advantage of the national network of trusted community financial institutions—the digitized and sustainable SACCOs—and by strengthening access to markets through digitized FPOs, and climate-smart agtechs and agribusinesses. To increase agricultural production, we’re aiming to integrate a number of services and make them readily available, particularly through leveraging data that are generated through digitized transactions as well as combined with other sources of data. Ultimately, long-term change comes from building more resilient agricultural livelihoods with increased access to financial services and markets, particularly for women. This access is what can drive a sustainable increase in income and food security.

What’s next for Dalberg Implement? What are your aspirations for the future?

In our work supporting governments, philanthropies, multilaterals, NGOs, and the private sector, we see a range of ways that our clients can accelerate their impact with implementation support, especially when they’re taking on complex issues at the systems level. Our goal is systems change. In the long term, we hope to continue our deep partnerships from the start of the strategy journey through to execution to maximize the impact from our work. We jump out of bed every morning ready for exactly this challenge.