Learning Economic Citizenship Among Rural Women : Village Saving Groups in Western Uganda

Abstract

The notion of economic citizenship is prevalent in non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) interventions aimed at promoting inclusive development in the Global South. In this chapter, we draw on the concept of participatory learning (Mayoux in IDS Bulletin 29:39–50, 1998; Pretty in World Development 23:1247–1263, 1995), to explore how NGO-initiated village savings and lending associations (VSLAs) provide platforms for learning among rural women in Uganda. Based on findings from qualitative participatory research with saving groups in western Uganda, we identify three ways through which women learn a plethora of skills that promote economic citizenship. Further, we reflect on how shared learning inspired by VSLAs enables women to negotiate power relations and achieve empowerment nuanced to local settings. We conclude that VSLAs provide learning that lessens impediments to and strengthens women’s citizenship at the community level, even if this does not tackle entrenched traditional norms in a fundamental way.