Attachments
This paper assesses the role of village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) in building resilience to climate extremes and disasters in Niger. The findings aim to inform a broader conversation on how financial inclusion can be considered a pillar of resilience programming.
Two innovative approaches are implemented for a holistic exploration of the VSLAs’ contribution to resilience: this paper is an interim presentation of these methods and initial results on the contribution of VSLAs to resilience. Authors hope that presenting initial findings from these complementary approaches in Niger will improve understanding of resilience-building to climate extremes through access to financial services.
KEY MESSAGES
• Niger is a least developed country prone to recurrent drought, which affects a large share of the population and results in severe food security issues.
• Support mechanisms, including access to adequate financial resources, are important for individuals and communities to better prepare for and cope with climate extremes.
• Village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) are implemented as a means to support rural communities, address livelihood shocks and strengthen social capital.
• Two innovative research methods – financial diaries and serious games – have been carried out in Niger, to help support a better understanding of VSLAs’ contribution to climate resilience.
• These innovative tools reveal behavioural changes that help complete our understanding of how VSLAs can contribute to resilience-building in dimensions that are often unexplored, including (i) gender empowerment; (ii) social trust; and (iii) natural resource management.
• This paper paves the way for further analysis of the role of VSLAs in building communities’ resilience by documenting the linkages between financial inclusion and resilience to climate extremes.
• These methods, based on community participation, provide a complementary alternative to traditional monitoring and evaluation methods. They contribute to the ‘monitoring–evaluation–learning’ trinity by blending evaluation and learning