Kulika Uganda and The
Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper – UK
community development programme
Micro finance Programme (pilot) in Mubende
District
West Central Uganda.
Number of Current Direct Beneficiaries: 440
Kulika was established in 1981, with a focus on providing
educational opportunities through vocational and academic
scholarships to Ugandan people. Since then, Kulika has developed
into a fully independent Ugandan registered NGO with an emphasis
on community development and the provision of educational
opportunities to help people improve their livelihoods.
Programme Goals:
The Micro-Finance Scheme aims to offer farmer group members
in rural communities in Mubende District access to affordable
micro-finance loans. These loans can be used by individuals
to increase their incomes at household level and use the proceeds
to better their livelihoods.
 The
Rotary club of Abingdon Vesper raised £3000 which was
donated Kulika Uganda for the purpose of establishing a sustainable
micro finance loans scheme in 2007, since then 60 households
from three groups have received Micro Finance Loans. The Ssemuto
Mixed Farmers Association has 22 members, who mainly cultivate
crops such as beans, cassava, and maize. They received three
million UShs which was mainly invested in Piggery. The pigs
have had large litters, and provide high returns; the loan
has enabled the group to improve their access to manure for
crops, proteins in their diets and increase their incomes
by selling meat and piglets.
The Twekolere Development group invested a variety of projects
 from
crop cultivation to livestock rearing. The money generated
has enabled them to increase capital, help pay school fees,
and even build bricks for new houses. Lastly, the Kyamukoona
group have also invested in a variety of projects, and for
some it has tripled their output, and enabled members to start
new projects such as building water tanks. The loans offered
have a low interest rate, and a lengthened grace period, making
them accessible to those farming at a subsistence level. Once
repaid the loans are then invested back into the group for
other members to use, and therefore are ultimately sustainable.
The loans have enabled those with no capital to improve their
livelihoods and living conditions. For many of the farmers
the loans have helped ease the worry of providing health,
safety, and education for a large family.
The next phase of the pilot is underway, and
will be providing groups with loans to finance their development
initiatives. However the provision of funding to groups largely
depends  on
the success in fundraising. Kulika wishes to raise 9,000,000UShs
per group over the next two years, to enable each group to
have that amount for a further three years, and thus complete
a six year growing cycle. Kulika Uganda hopes to enable those
in community groups to develop themselves and improve their
quality of life through the management of their own development
initiatives and finances.
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