Village loans concept keeping Malawi women poorer -official

A government official has hinted the famous village savings and loans concept is pushing some women deeper into poverty as they fail to come out of their loan bondages prompting them to sell off property to clear debts.[caption id="attachment_100230" align="alignright" width="600"] Village savings group[/caption][caption id="attachment_100229" align="alignright" width="600"] A Malawi Village Savings and Loan group[/caption] Lucy Vumu, Nsanje District Community Officer has since asked non government organisations advocating for the concept to place measures that would help women get out of their loan trap without selling off their property to repay debts. "These loans have put some families in problems, some women have landed themselves in problems. In some instances, women grouos confisticate property of families when a woman fails to settle debts, this is bad," she said. She said this defeats the whole purpose of the concept to raise the welfare and living standards of women. Vumu said NGOs advocating for the concept should always liaise with community district offices on how best to implement the concept.