Author: Amina Wagner "It was an adventure", Mary Frimpong shares on a scheduled call from her home in Enchi, Ghana. She has taken time out of her workday selling weedicides and plantain at a local market. Frimpong is a 34-year-old mother of two and a member of the microcredit intervention "Village Savings and Loan Association" (VSLA), which supports the financial needs of her children's education. VSLA is a community-based group project that is intended to assist smallholder farmers in becoming entrepreneurs, raise awareness about effective money-saving methods, and improve gender relations in households and the wider community. Joining a VSLA group turned Frimpong's life and marriage around and broadened her children's career aspirations.

Tackling the roots of child labour

According to the International Labour Office, Africa has the greatest incidence of economically active children: 41% of children in the continent are at work. Especially in the small-scale farming sector, children are often expected to miss school and instead contribute to the family's income. Aiming to allow children the opportunity to be children without harming parents' ability to sustain the family, ETG (Export Trading Group) started the VSLA-CHILD project in 2019, with funding from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency Fund Against Child Labour. They work together with the Ghanaian farmer cooperative Kokoo Pa and LBC Cocoa Merchants Limited, as well as with Participatory Development Associates (PDA), and Child Rights International (CRI). VSLA-CHILD works to tackle the roots of child labour by empowering smallholder farmers and promoting gender equity. VSLAs are formed amongst 15 to 40 community members who meet on a weekly basis to collectively save funds and take out loans at low interest rates from their collective savings. The purpose of this scheme is to help local farming communities be self-sufficient, thereby reducing their dependence on child labour. The CHILD module (Child-Household Intervention for Learning & Development) was developed by ETG to integrate training on gender empowerment and child labour within this community-based framework.

Born and raised in Kumasi, a city in Southern Ghana, life took Mary Frimpong to the town of Enchi in search of better financial prospects, as farmland there was cheaper. Her two children, a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, stayed behind in Kumasi, where they go to school and live with their grandmother. In 2021, Frimpong noticed people around her purchasing shares in VSLA groups to fund their enterprises. "I saw other people participating and enquired", she tells AMAKA. "I wanted to have a way of saving that I can rely on." Frimpong was sceptical at first, concerned that she might lose the little amount of money she had. "My friend kept telling me about it and vouched for it", she says. "Then, somebody dropped out [of the group at the] last minute, and I took the gamble and put some money towards it." She joined the group meetings and took out a loan of 700 cedis (c. £70) to buy weedicides and sell them in the surrounding villages; in turn, she used the profits to take care of her farm. "The process of selling weedicides wasn't easy in the beginning because of initial hesitancy from the people in the community", explains Frimpong. "It got better with time after I had gained their trust." When she started seeing the benefits of the scheme, she wanted to share it with her community. "I went and spoke to people in their homes, and I was able to organise a lot of women to form a VSLA group. I always say that if we had known about this group earlier, our lives would have been better than this."

Challenging gender norms to support children’s rights

In the framework of the VSLA-CHILD scheme, every VSLA group selects two champions who attend further workshops around gender equity, child protection, and financial security. Frimpong was chosen as she is respected as a pillar of the community, known for bringing people together. "I now advise the people in my community. I tell them about what I have learned and what I think works for us", she explains. Frimpong, as well as many other members, cannot read or write, so all workshops are based on images. Participants are encouraged to identify a vision to pursue, and to buy property to secure the future of their children. Frimpong's husband also joined the group, and the couple have greatly benefitted from workshops that tackle issues such as improving couples' dialogue and discussing household chores. As part of the training, both partners indicate the tasks that they do around the house and need help with. "My husband and I learned these things together, which was very helpful", she says. "I can also see changes in the wider community, especially in couples' relationships. Everybody does their bit." She feels there is an increased awareness around spending money responsibly. "Previously, people didn't care how much they were saving; now, they save to help their children in the future. It was common to spend money on frivolous trips and new funeral clothes", Frimpong explains.

A change of mindset was also fostered through a workshop on children's rights as human rights, she says, which stressed the importance of education. "Before, it would be common that parents are asleep while their kids are awake without supervision. Now they make sure to put them to sleep when they sleep, too. Parents are now more serious about how they treat their children. They pay particular interest in their children's activities and learning." Frimpong tells her children that they should lean on each other instead of falling into gender roles that expect the man to be the sole provider. "As a woman, you should also have money saved that you can bring to the table." Sending children into higher education used to be a rare privilege because of school fees and other expenses. "Because of this programme, women are able to buy books and food for their kids without relying on their husbands."

Leaving a legacy

Frimpong and her husband are planning to buy a plot of land in Kumasi, to leave a legacy for their children. The market in Enchi that she is currently selling at is a two-hour bus ride from her home. Once she has her house in Kumasi, she can start working closer to home and save on many hours of travel. "Ownership is important to me", she says. "I want my children to know that they own their home." Joining VSLA groups has improved the children's lives because their parents can now paint a future for them to aspire to. Frimpong feels like she can encourage them to follow their dreams: her son wants to become a medical doctor, and her daughter a commercial farmer. "I will do my best to support them", she declares. When asked about her future membership in VSLA groups, she laughs. "Until I am called by my creator, I'll continue being in the group."