The Contribution of Savings Groups towards Women Empowerment in Uganda: A Case Study of Masaka District

Abstract

The overall study was conducted in Masaka district to investigate the contribution of VSLAs in empowering women. Primary data was collected from 50 respondents from which analysis was done using chi square tests, ANOVA and logistic regression in STATA 13. The key findings of the study were as follow: From the univariate analysis, 76% of the respondents actually reported to be participating in a VSLA and only 24% reported that they weren’t a member of a VSLA with majority in the age groups of 31-35 with 36.8%, majority of the respondents were actually married women at 60.5%, most of the respondents at 39.5% went at primary school literates and most of the respondents were actually farmers at 44.7%. Chi square analysis revealed most of the characteristics as not being statistically significant with participation apart from occupation whose P value of 0.001 was less than the given significance level and thus revealed a statistically significant difference between participation and occupation. Overall, the conclusion of the study as that based on the evidence gathered, showed that participation in VSLAs played an important role in enhancing women welfare, manifested by; being in position to improvise food, maintain their status in community, support the education expenditure of their children, hence reducing school drop – out rates, and increasing the number of income generating activities they own. It is therefore recommended that; the government, NGO s and other professional bodies should increase their involvement and encourage the growth of VSLAs. The members and leaders should also be trained so as to improve the organization and functioning of their different groups. The research was a success but carried out over a limited period of time and limited resources, hence a much larger research can clearly clarify the findings of my project.