The nexus between household food security and village savings and loans associations: a case of Masvingo District, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a topical issue in Zimbabwe with El Nino-induced mid-season dry spells exacerbating food insecurity. Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) have been suggested as proven, sustainable, and cost-effective intervention to enhance food security. This study gathers evidence from 320 households (69.7% male-headed), representative of 149 VSLA, in Masvingo District by assessing the nexus between household food security and village savings and loan associations. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multinomial logistic regressions are computed. Only 6.3% of respondents accessed loans from Banks, 22.2% had a high wealth status score and 12.5% accessed food and cash assistance. 73.1% of respondents participated in at least two VSLA groups. Adoption of social funds portfolio was low (9%). The main objectives for saving included collective access to household furniture and kitchen utensils, cash savings, farm inputs and implements, and groceries. Financial (savings, miscellaneous, loans, and cash book), and non-financial (attendance register, constitution, and minute book) records were kept. Main Income Generating Activities (IGAs) utilized included farming, hired labor, petty cash trading, remittances, and formal employment. The main success factors of the VSLA included member self-selection, equal access to loans, transparency in leadership, saving in foreign currency, appropriate saving cycle length and loan repayment period, transparent financial records, public-private partnerships, and group monitoring and training. However, precedency of crop and livestock diseases, limited low capital income-generating alternatives, lack of funds to save, and poor adoption of constitutions adversely affected VSLA activities. VSLA’s relative governance and administrative efficiency was at 3.10 out of 5. There was a strong positive association between Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) and the level of engagement in VSLA activities ((χ2(4)) of 309.888, p<1%). Households that were highly engaged in VSLA activities had 88.0% of their members in the high HDDS (10-12) category. Chi-square analysis of HDDS against the level of relative governance and administrative “smoothness” was also significant at 1% (χ2 (4) = 21.9). Bivariate analysis confirmed level of engagement in VSLA activities explaining only 59.2%, 52.7%, 41.8%, and 45.1% variations in food availability, accessibility, stability, and utilization respectively. The final model fit for the multinomial regression model for determinants of HDDS fitted well (χ2 (28) = 417.74, P < 1% & Nagelkerke Pseudo R-square = 0.890). The Deviance Chi-square confirmed the goodness of fit (χ2 (610) = 129.848, P = 1). The significant predictors (P < 5% ) identified in the likelihood ratio tests included VSLA activities, post-harvest handling and storage (PHHS) practices, administrative efficiency, household size, land size, savings cycle, remittances, and formal employment. Multinomial log odds ratios of being in the moderate (7-9) and high (10-12) HDDS score categories, relative to low (0-6) HDDS were positively correlated to level of VSLA activities engagement, VSLA governance and administrative smoothness, household head’s level of education, level of crop diversification and adoption of PHHS practices. On the other hand, having formal employment and not receiving remittances in the past 6 months was associated with lower odds ratios of being in the moderate (7-9) and high (10-12) HDDS score categories. It can be concluded that there is enough evidence of the contribution of VSLA to household food security in Masvingo, however, the methodology is not all-sufficient without paying attention to other determinants of HDDS. There researcher recommends collaboration between development partners, gorvenment line ministries and other relevant stakeholders in livelihoods programming to ensure layering on VSLA Activities (public-private-partnerships) to enhance food security.