How financial literacy is lifting ASAL women lives

Mwende speaks to the women at the workshop in Kajiado – HANDOUTFor many women in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), income is not the biggest challenge. Keeping it is.

The Global Give Back Circle (GGBC) is changing this narrative through its HER Financial Freedom Programme and HER Financial Freedom Sacco.

Currently, it is being implemented in two counties: West Pokot, the Centre of Excellence, where it began in 2024, and Kajiado, where it was launched on October 12.

“Financial freedom begins with believing in your own worth and having the confidence to shape your future,” GGBC founder and CEO Linda Lockhart told reporters during the expansion launch into Kajiado.

The programme adopts the teachings of renowned American personal finance expert and author Suze Orman, who also contributed seed capital.

“When Suze and I envisioned this programme, we wanted women to have more than financial knowledge,” Lockhart said.

“We wanted them to have the confidence, tools and opportunities to make their own economic decisions and build a different future for themselves and their families.”

The West Pokot initiative was launched in partnership with grassroots implementing partner Perur Rays of Hope, while the Kajiado initiative is being implemented in partnership with Equity Bank Kenya, providing access to formal financial services.

The expansion to Kajiado builds on a model co-created by Lockhart and Orman to help women in rural communities recognise their self-worth, take greater control of their finances and turn their ambitions into economic opportunities.

So far, the programme has empowered more than 700 rural pastoral women in West Pokot through a registered sacco that allows them to save, borrow and invest in businesses such as poultry farming and beadwork.

In ASAL counties like Turkana, Wajir, Marsabit, Garissa and Samburu, women earn daily from livestock, beadwork, milk and small trade. But irregular earnings, drought and lack of money management skills mean the little they make disappears fast.

It is this gap that GGBC’s HER Financial Freedom Programme is trying to bridge by equipping women with financial literacy as a tool for survival and growth.

In ASALs, income is seasonal. Financial literacy is teaching women to separate household money from business money, to budget for dry seasons and to save for drought shocks.

The result is fewer distress sales, where families are forced to sell livestock at throwaway prices to meet urgent needs.

GGBC chief of programmes Dr Gladys Munuve says women in ASALs already have strong table-banking groups and chamas. What they lack is structure.

“These are pathways that emanate from, first, a woman getting skills to know what exactly they really want to do and what exactly is available for them,” she said.

“We also enlighten women about the opportunities that are available to them.”

She said the organisation spearheads programmes geared towards creating gender equity and empowering women to be self-reliant through skills and seed capital that enable them to start businesses.

“The reason is that we are looking at a woman in holistic ways. When they get the skills, they can support themselves, their families and children through the income they generate,” Munuve said.

Through the HER Financial Freedom Programme, groups are trained on proper record-keeping, calculating profit instead of just sales, understanding interest rates and enforcing group accountability.

Once formalised into Village Savings and Loan Associations, these groups can access government funds, such as the Uwezo Fund and Women Enterprise Fund, as well as NGO grants.

The programme targets women aged 18 to 35 years, and at times those above 35.

With livelihoods constantly hit by climate change, financial literacy is also about resilience.

Munuve said women are learning to diversify income beyond livestock, invest in drought-resistant businesses, such as water vending, fodder storage and solar products, and understand insurance products, including the Kenya Livestock Insurance Programme and crop insurance.

Beyond money, financial literacy gives women bargaining power.

“Knowing how to negotiate better prices, stay safe on M-Pesa and use a Lipa na M-Pesa till for business protects them from exploitation and reduces economic stress, which often fuels gender-based violence at household level,” Munuve said.

A woman who can keep a ledger, show three months of savings records and write a simple business plan is bankable.

“HER Financial Freedom Programme links such women to opportunities from Equity Bank, KCB Foundation, AGRA, county government tenders under AGPO and buyers beyond their counties,” Munuve said.

Instead of just teaching savings, the programme teaches what it calls the Pastoral Financial Life Cycle.

Here, you ‘Earn’ through value addition, such as milk preservation and hide processing, ‘Keep’ through safe savings in saccos and locked mobile wallets, ‘Grow’ through micro-investments, ‘Protect’ through emergency funds for school fees, drought and health, and ‘Pass’ on by teaching daughters.

“Today in Kajiado county, we are scaling up the same programme that is enabling women to be financially secure and independent,” Munuve said.

“We have partnered with Equity Bank to start with 100 women from Kajiado county. So far, we have opened bank accounts for all the 100 women. The rollout will also provide young women with skills on how to run their businesses, how to set up their businesses, what opportunities they have within themselves and how they can scale them.”

Munuve said Kajiado had also been identified as the second county for another GGBC project, HER Lab, targeting 269 women in the Second Chance Education cohort, plus more than 500 women from the surrounding community.

The project is being implemented by local partner Humanitarian Efforts for Learning of the Girl-Child in Africa.

GGBC lists Garissa as the next ASAL expansion after Kajiado.

The non-profit celebrated its 20 years of existence in Kenya on October 11.

“We know that there is no organisation that can solve the problems in the country or world single-handedly. So, we value partnerships as one of the things that we do,” Munuve said.

Equity Bank senior manager for women and youth banking Charity Munyori said the bank is glad to partner with GGBC.

“Under the Global Give Back Circle, we have engaged 100 women. We are going to support young entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through financial education by enabling them to open accounts, save and borrow to grow their businesses,” she said.

“Through the Fanikisha product, we can give them Fanikisha Insurance, where the women can save Sh5,800 a year, which is like Sh16 a day, to have a medical cover, and also networking opportunities, courtesy of Equity Bank.”

The women are trained on how to trade with foreigners. They are taken through forex, making them understand the Kenya shillings to US dollar conversion.

They are also taught how to open USD accounts, receive money through PayPal, then convert and hold it in their personal and business accounts.

Munyori said in the 21st century, the number of women who cannot operate mobile phone technology is still overwhelming, hence the need for such trainings.

The education translates to more women with personal savings accounts, reduced livestock distress sales, higher weekly savings and more women-led businesses surviving beyond 12 months.

The women now bank on savings and financial literacy to grow their businesses.

At least 100 women from the Maasai community in Kajiado county have opened bank accounts for the first time following the launch of the HER Financial Freedom Programme in Isinya.

“I’m excited to have attended this training. I have learnt a lot. I travelled more than 100km to get to here for this training,” Everline Malipe told the Star.

The experience provided practical lessons she can apply to the business she plans to start.

“Before today, I did not have a bank account, but now I have opened one with Equity Bank, and I am happy,” she said.

“Through the training, I have also gained knowledge and confidence. Now we know that we can believe in ourselves as women, succeed in business and support our families.”

Maasai National Polytechnic fashion and design student Seeyian Karei, who sells beads and fashion items to earn a living, is another beneficiary.

“Instead of receiving money and keeping it in my bag, I will channel it into my bank account and use the knowledge I have gained to grow my business,” she said.

“I hope to build a financial profile that will help me access credit.”

Karei said she hopes to turn her earnings into savings that can help her expand her enterprise and secure her financial future.

Jane Isaya, a mother of three and member of a local table-banking group, said she plans to open a retail shop in her village.

She hopes to save enough to establish the business and later seek financing to grow it.

These women’s experiences are testament to the programme’s economic empowerment.

Some did not complete secondary school due to financial difficulties and early marriages, organisers said.

The GGBV initiative aims to create sustainable pathways to economic independence for women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Hopefully, the financial empowerment will help them shape the futures they envision for themselves and their communities.

“In the ASALs, financial literacy is no longer a soft skill,” Munuve said. “It is a survival skill.”

Financial inclusion is the provision of beneficial and appropriate financial services and products in transparent manner.

Gatonye says t is important to sensitise them on separating business funds from personal funds to keep their enterprises afloat