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A loan, a lamb and a livelihood in Tunisia

Women in Tunisia, as in many parts of the developing world, are slowly gaining power through development projects. A first, crucial step is their participation in community organizations and groups. When IFAD launched the Zaghouan Integrated Agricultural Development Project in 1998, group formation was a prerequisite for project activities. Special efforts were made to bring as many women as possible into these groups, where members decide which activities best meet their needs. Helping women acquire more confidence and authority, as well as training in new skills, means they are able to earn more and to transform their lives.

One woman’s story

Siham's home

Siham, a 37-year-old single woman, lives with her father and siblings in Jradou, a mountainous rural area about 30 kilometres from the city of Zaghouan. Her father farms a parcel of land of some 4 hectares. Ever since she left primary school, Siham has wanted to help her father provide for her eight younger brothers and sisters.

In 2002, the IFAD-supported Zaghouan project asked the Self-Development Support Society, a non-governmental organization, to work with local communities in developing a plan to help needy community members set up microenterprises. The society held a number of meetings with residents to discuss their needs and suggestions, and to help them find solutions that were realistic, both economically and technically.

Community development plans were then drawn up, but local participation did not stop there. Each plan called for community residents to form a development committee, in order to ensure that residents were actively involved in planning, carrying out and managing the outlined activities.

Siham was elected as the women’s representative of her local committee. To help her fulfil this role, the project trained her in ways to mobilize residents, especially women, to become involved. The project had a microfinance component with support from the National Solidarity Bank of Tunisia, which specializes in microcredit. As a result, Siham also learned the procedures for obtaining and repaying a loan.

When the project offered a technical training session on sheep-rearing, Siham believed she had finally found the opportunity to improve her social and economic status. After completing the training, she applied for a loan to start a sheep-fattening business. The project facilitator helped her prepare the necessary documents. The loan was approved, and she received 800 Tunisian dinars (TND) (about US$650) to start her business.

In November 2004, Siham purchased four ewes and a ram. The project provided her with a 10-cubic-metre water tank to save her time in water collection. Within 12 months, Siham was able to repay the loan and had five ewes as net profit. She decided to take out another loan to expand her business. Having proven herself creditworthy, she had no trouble obtaining a second loan of TND 1,000 (about US$815). Her profit from this loan was six ewes.

Siham had become a microentrepreneur. In June 2005, she received a third loan of 1,100 TND (almost US$900) and bought another five ewes. After this third loan, the herd size increased to 16 ewes and one ram.

Siham usually sells the rams to repay the loan and keeps the ewes to increase the size of the herd, thus earning more income. To secure a good profit, she sells the rams just before Eid Al-Adha (Immolation Day – celebrated by Muslims worldwide), when market prices are at their highest.

Good news spreads fast

Siham feeds her sheep

Siham's experience showed other women in the area what they could achieve. Many attended the training sessions and 100 women in and around Jradou obtained loans to start their own microenterprises. Officials of the Self-Development Support Society confirmed that the credit recovery rate is 100 per cent.

This good credit performance is mainly attributed to the successful experience of Siham and her efforts to urge women clients, in her capacity as a committee member, to repay their loans. She visited women in their houses and even walked long distances to evaluate their situations and offer advice.

Siham attributed her own success to the efforts of the project management unit. The facilitators visited her weekly and helped her treat sick animals by encouraging regular use of the veterinary service.

"I will not talk to you about money,” Siham says, “but I will tell you about the change in the lifestyle of a simple human being like myself, who became more effective. I feel as if I have been reborn."

Siham now earns about TND 3,000 annually (about US$2,450) from her small enterprise, which goes a long way towards meeting the needs of her father’s household. Her business has expanded to include the production of wool for the manufacture of blankets. She has paid to have an additional room built onto the family house and is able to ensure that her diabetic brother receives proper health care and her sister can continue vocational training.

More than 1,000 women benefited from the project’s credit services.

Reaching even further

In its efforts to enable poor rural women to overcome poverty, IFAD has learned that well-organized communities are essential if development is to be effective and sustainable. Participation is the catalyst in developing and strengthening local leadership. Development efforts work best when members of communities are able to articulate and negotiate their needs and mobilize their own resources to manage solutions.

Unfortunately, women are still underrepresented in many local economies and, more often than not, they are not aware of their full potential to contribute to their households and communities. Initiatives such as the Zaghouan Integrated Agricultural Development Project are a step in the right direction.

Source: IFAD