The financial inclusion pillar of the Parish Development Model (PDM) has a specific emphasis on women and youth. The pillar emphasizes the Parish Revolving Fund (PVR), where women and youth will get 60% of the funds – 30% for each category. Both categories are vulnerable and have challenges accessing capital for production or business expansion. If implemented well, the PRF will boost their participation at different levels of production chain.
The World Bank, in its 18th economic update for Uganda, said women comprise 40 percent of all business owners – “making the country one of seven countries in the world to achieve gender parity in the rate of entrepreneurial activity.” However, these businesses remain small and informal. After the COVID-19 lockdown, the report says, 60 percent of all females in the working population were engaged in subsistence agriculture – an indication that the majority hardly go beyond producing food for home consumption. For the youth, the majority remain unemployed and unable to borrow to start smaller businesses. Women and youth remain Uganda’s biggest population and unemployment statistic.
The unique challenges that women and youth face, including gender disparities, cultural constraints, lesser representation at different levels of decision-making, and limited access to resources, hinder their participation in community development initiatives. In many cases, women and youth are excluded from decision-making processes, which limits their ability to voice their concerns and needs. How, then, can women and youth participation be enhanced?
In this think piece, I contend that through the PRF, finance challenges that hinder women and youth from tapping into economic opportunities can be addressed. The PDM is Uganda’s sustainability project intended to bring about holistic development in the communities by transitioning the 39 percent (3.5 million) households in the subsistence to the money economy (UNHS 2019/20).
The project, which has gained significant attention since 2022, is being implemented by emphasizing seven pillars: 1) Production, Storage, Processing, and Marketing; 2) Infrastructure and Economic Services; 3) Financial Inclusion; 4) Social Services; 5) Mindset Change and Cross-cutting issues; 6) Parish Based Management Information System; and 7) Governance & Administration (MLG, 2021). Rooted in the idea of local empowerment and sustainable growth, the model of PRF holds promises to transform the socio-economic landscape of individual households in the respective parishes.
Through PRF, women and youth are to engage and benefit from opportunities in the oil and gas industry, agriculture, and trade. Availing credit to women and youth, repayable after 24 months is a greater opportunity because it provides them an opportunity to multiply their money with less interest compared to the commercial rates from microfinance institutions. Poor access to financial credit has always been targeted to the non-financing of agricultural enterprises due to its risk, but with the PRF funding, agricultural enterprises are funded.
However, the successful engagement of women and youth will have to depend on how intentional the government is in ensuring equal opportunities and equitable measures in implementing the project. For instance, inclusivity is a very strategic approach to strengthening such self-help projects and empowering marginalized groups.
By investing in these associations and addressing the unique challenges women and youth face, we can build more resilient, empowered, and prosperous parishes that benefit all members of society. Organized structures like cooperatives have proved to be the best in mobilizing and bringing together people. The barrier to forming productive cooperatives is, however, often the issue of the capacity of the associations’ leadership. A recent EPRC study found that strong cooperatives formed a critical path to improving the bargaining power of farmers.
Recommendations
For the PRF to have bigger impact, there is a need for the government to further:
- Establish mentorship programs and networks that will enable women and youth to build relationships and gain insights from experienced professionals in different sectors. This guidance can be instrumental in navigating the complexities of the industry, fostering personal growth, and fostering a sense of belonging.
- Ensure social empowerment by creating a supportive social network of self-help associations to boost the confidence and self-esteem of women and youth, encouraging them to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for active participation in leadership roles and to engage in community activities.
- Create strong cooperatives and improve monitoring and capacity-building strategies. The PDM is a bottom-up approach to community development, where local communities actively participate in planning and implementing development projects. It encourages community ownership, self-reliance, and accountability, ultimately leading to sustainable progress. This model has been adopted in various regions with promising results, but its success hinges on the active involvement of all community members, especially women and youth.
- Governance issues of the PRF must be taken seriously. Already, there are loopholes that indicate money might not reach the intended beneficiaries. The Auditor General flagged these in his 2022 report showing that at least 1500 SACCOs in 70 districts had not received their first batch of funds while some money had been diverted to buy phones and other gadgets.