Over 5,000 members have benefited from the Northern Rangelands Trust Trading (NRTT) Sacco, established by community conservancy members as a vehicle for building businesses and diversifying their livelihoods.
The Sacco started with only 200 members in 2016 and has grown to 5,563 members disbursing over Sh182 million to empower the communities to start businesses and diversify economic ventures.
The move has immensely improved the lives of community members within Isiolo, Samburu, Marsabit, Laikipia, Baringo, West Pokot, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu counties.
The Sacco gets technical advice from the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) through its ‘Biashara Mashinani’ programme to uplift the living standards of community members through business activities.
A senior enterprise development officer with the organisation Elema Mohamud said that the main aim of the Northern Rangeland Sacco is to provide loans to people who find it hard to acquire one.
Mr Mohamud said that the Sacco is determined to empower pastoralists from the northern and coastal regions to start and run their business by helping them generate sustainable business ideas.
“Through the initiative the Sacco has achieved a lot including starting the Biashara Mashinani Initiative which has been leading in training and teaching members on how to start and operate businesses that will generate them profit,” he added.
The Sacco has given Sh1.8 million to the community as bonuses for their savings in the last year to support their businesses and encourage their hard work in the Sacco.
“Over 69 percent of the members are the women who are highly motivated and participate mainly in the Sacco leadership. The members come from over 39 conservancies in the region and the community taking the lead in the leadership and shareholding,” he added.
He said that the Sacco offers business and financial literacy training before disbursing the loans to ensure that they can understand how to spend the money since many members need formal education prudently.
Northern Rangeland Sacco chairperson Pauline Lolngojine said that they have contributed to the reduction of the common robbery and cattle rustling activities in the community adding the members have kept themselves busy by taking care of their families through savings and servicing their loans.
Ms Lolngojine said that the Sacco has agents in all areas who are their main link to members needing the loans.
She said that issuance of loans by the Sacco has been even faster and more favourable to residents than bank processes which sometimes delay them.
A beneficiary of the loan Namunken Napolok said she had recently received dividends worth Sh 41,000 from her savings in the Sacco, from which she has boosted her business.
“I am happy to be a successful entrepreneur in my community despite being born from a poor community that also undermines women and girls, placing them to undertake house chores,” Napolok said.
