The Impact of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) on Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Communities

This study sought to assess the impact of savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) on rural sustainable livelihoods using the case of Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district of Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a descriptive research design which were consistent with the research problem. Using convenience and purposive sampling, local leaders, non-governmental organisation (NGO) officials and members of the existing SACCOs were selected as respondents. The major findings were that SACCOs played a significant role in sustaining rural livelihoods particularly through enabling members to fend for themselves and their families. In addition, NGOs helped cooperatives through capacitating members with knowledge and technical skills and that SACCOs impacted positively on sustaining rural livelihoods. However, quite a number of challenges are associated with SACCOs in their bit to sustain rural livelihoods; with the major ones being failure to recover loans, competition from more established cooperatives, lack of start-up capital, poor financial and managerial skills and the general national economic meltdown. From the study findings, the researchers concluded that, despite the challenges associated with SACCOs, their existence under members’ resilience, has generally improved the lives of people in rural communities to generate employment, boost food production, send their children to school and empower the marginalized


Introduction and Background to the Study
This study sought to investigate the impact of savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) on the livelihoods of rural communities, with special reference to Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has been undergoing a socio-economic crisis over the last two decades mostly due to factors such as cyclical droughts, hyper-inflation, political instability, floods and so on; which has been exacerbated further by the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic (Mhembwe & Dube, 2017). Since 2020, the country's socio-economic situation has been worsed by the effects of COVID-19, an infectious disease which causes common colds to more severe disease such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) (MoHCC, 2020). Such unfortunate circumstances in the country adversely affected the welfare of people directly and indirectly as some individuals are failing even to feed their families due to the increasing levels of poverty. The majority of the Zimbabwean rural population survives below the poverty datum line; which currently stands at ZLW5092 (about USD50.92) per person per month (Zimstat, 2021). In a way, to address the problems faced by the majority of rural communities in the country such as Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange, a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government departments intervened; assisting through food handouts, small financial packages, seed packs and so on. However, such assistance has been inadequate and inconsistent due to current funding challenges.
The souring socio-economic hardships encountered by the rural community in Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district of Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe made them to realise the need to form savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) in order to improve their livelihoods. Most cooperatives deposit their funds in the banks which has proved to have its own challenges in counties like Zimbabwe where the economy is generally fragile and cash availability is scarce. Regardless of the faced challenges, the government and NGOs are encouraging the people of Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange and other areas to formulate cooperatives as a way to sustain themselves, their families and communities. The need to assess the impact of savings and credit cooperatives on rural livelihoods has been necessitated by lack of or limited studies on this problem in Zimbabwe hence, the need to fill the gap through findings of this study.
Some of the first-formulated cooperatives such as Luzibo, Kubhudilila, Tubuke, Wasalawasala, among others form part of this study to explore and understand how credit and savings cooperatives have impacted the livelihoods of the community under study in a sustainable manner. Livelihood sustainability through cooperation is evidenced by building and driving the same vision of the association amongst the people involved and also, through reduced dependence syndrome where people can manage to fend for themselves without the intervention of food programmes and NGOs. Dependence syndrome has been a challenge in most rural communities of Hwange district and Zimbabwe in general as people are noticed www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 3, No. 1, 2022 13 Published by SCHOLINK INC.
with reluctance of projecting self-reliance project but simply relying on food and other handouts to survive. The challenges faced by the local people in the area under study such as lack of start-up capital and by far the challenges overwhelming savings and credit cooperatives demotivate the rural cooperation among the people hence, the need to figure them out. Moreover, the study identifies the general or common factors that affect savings and credit cooperatives societies on sustainable livelihoods in rural communities.
Hwange district is one of the seven districts in Matabeleland North province and is located in the Western socio-economic hardships, addressing poverty has been unsustainable. The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has encouraged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and small scale farmers to spearhead the development of both rural and urban communities through the establishment of SACCOs as a way of generating income, alleviating poverty and employment creation. In that regard, co-operatives have been identified to be one of the most important agents of social and economic development. It is in this context that there was need for the researchers to assess the impact of SACCOs in the area under study in relation to sustainable livelihoods of its members and the entire community.

Purpose of the Study
The rationale or purpose of this study was to assess the impact of savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) on rural sustainable livelihoods using the case of Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district of Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe.

Research Objectives
The following research objectives are propounded to:  Determine the importance of cooperatives in society from the perspective of members.
 Evaluate the factors affecting savings and credit cooperatives' sustainability in rural communities.
 Determine the impact of savings and credit cooperatives on members' lives in relation to the socio-economic goals of their community.
 Evaluate the role of Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in cooperatives' goal of sustaining livelihoods in rural communities.
 Assess the challenges associated with savings and credit cooperatives in sustaining livelihoods in rural communities.

Significance of the Study
Upon the completion of this study, a number of players that deal with the cooperatives movement in the district of Hwange, in particular, and other places across the globe will possibly benefit from the study as it is envisaged that they will learn from and improve using the findings and recommendations as reference notes. The study endeavours the importance of SACCOs to members and their families' socioeconomic wellbeing which may motivate members to have positive attitudes towards the SACCOs. The outcome of the research is also expected to contribute to the available literature by adding new findings and insights to the existing knowledge for further use by future researchers who will be interested in the same area of study. Thus, the findings are expected to advance knowledge frontiers in the field of savings and credit cooperatives on sustainable livelihoods with particular reference to rural communities.

Theoretical Framework
A theoretical framework entails a frame or group of related ideas that provide guidance to an empirical investigation (Mahoney, 2013). This study was informed by the participatory theory (Parrott, 2011).
Participation is both a conceptual and methodological approach that can be modified to changing social contexts and scenarios. Therefore, the theory underpinning the study is relevant as it cross-examines how participation grew out of the recognition that the community's poor have actually suffered as a result of lack of participation in development programmes. The theory also implies that for the effective sustainibility of rural livelihoods, everyone needs to be involved in development decisions and implementation through active participation. Thus, in the current study, this theoretical perspective was applied in order to interrogate the impact of SACCOs on rural sustainable livelihoods with special reference to Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district.

Review of Related Literature
The review of related literature was anchored on the impact of savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) on the livelihoods of rural communities; with the subsequent goal of contextualising the literature to the current study. In this review, the researchers looked at the related previous studies as well as identification of knowledge gaps in the reviewed related literature. The term sustainable livelihood is used for its focus on opportunities that allow youth and women to sustain themselves economically, an assertion that livelihood is often used interchangeably with economic strengthening and generally refers to economic production, employment, and household income (World Bank, 2007).
The SACCOs' history can be traced back to the 19 th Century; based on the origins of modern economic cooperation. Their formation enabled them to be self-reliant and no longer depended on money lenders and to find the credit necessary to modernize their operations (MUCCoBS, 2005). Mwelukilwa (2001) says that the first experiences of savings and credit cooperatives in Africa were as a result of the work of Savings and credit cooperative (SACCOs) are known to play a significant role in improving the livelihoods of rural communities the world over (Wanyama, 2009). The same source says that SACCOs are associations created voluntarily or cooperative financial institutions owned and controlled by the founding members. They operate for the purposes of promoting savings, providing credit at low interest rates and other financial services to its members who regularly pool their savings, and subsequently may obtain loans, which they may use for different purposes. In general, the idea behind the establishment of savings and credit cooperatives is to promote savings and make credits available to the members. Maghimbi (2010) asserts that SACCOs play a vital role in promoting the socio-economic development of rural poor communities. Therefore, it can be premised that savings and cooperatives are the significant micro-financing institutions for mobilisation of financial resources for various development activities in the rural areas that can assist in the sustainability of the people. The importance of SACCOs on sustainable livelihoods in societies cannot be overemphasised. Due to the rate of unemployment particularly in developing nations, cooperatives play a significant role in many national economies including Zimbabwe by enabling a great number of self-employment opportunities. Wanyama, Develtere and Pollet (2008) projected that the cooperative sector in fifteen African countries were responsible for creating one hundred and sixty thousand direct jobs. Besides, on the part of employment, cooperatives offer direct wage employment to people, self-employment and indirectly employ other people through the spillover effect of cooperative activities to non-members, who generate income through transactions and opportunities created by the cooperatives. The employment enhance participation in the economic activities making it possible for participants to be guaranteed a decent income and a living as they manage to provide shelter to their families, pay their children tuition and manage decent meals among other assistance from the projects. However, Schwettmann (2004)  Since the cooperative operation is equal to other financial institutions, it is prone to challenges hence, the need to come together and find solutions to sustain the associations. Schwettmann (2004) says that cooperatives empower people to improve their lives through self-help projects. In the same vein, Barton (2000) states that the reason why cooperatives are formed is that they help in maintaining access to competitive markets capitalizing on new market opportunities. They easily obtain the products and services on competitive basis improving income opportunities while on the other hand, managing risks of the members and the association at large.

Research Methodology
Research methodology is one of the most critical aspects of a scientific study and entails the collection of perspectives, approaches, methods, rules and principles by which a particular piece of study or research is undertaken (Somekh & Lewin, 2010).

Approach and Design
The study adopted a qualitative approach which the researchers found to be suitable for the research problem. Creswell (2014) points out that the qualitative enquiry entails obtaining details, perceptions and views of people. The descriptive research design, which is a method that involves observing and describing the behaviour of a subject or phenomenon without influencing it in any way (Burns & Grove, 2013), was preferred for the current study. Thus, this was a qualitative descriptive inquiry undertaken to assess the impact of SACCOs on rural sustainable livelihoods using the case of Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district.

Population and Sample
According to the latest census statistics, the total population of Nekatambe Ward 13 in Hwange district is 290 male and 303 females; making a total of 593 people (ZIMSTAT, 2012). For the success of this study, the key target groups were local leaders, NGO officials and members of the existing SACCOS of the area under study. One chief (local leader), two NGO officials and fifty cooperative members being respondents were used as the sample for this study. This study adopted purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The researchers found these methods to be consistent with the study considering that they are non-probability sampling techniques, hence appropriate in selecting participants for a qualitative descriptive study such as this one where participants are largely sampled on the basis of their familiarity with the problem under investigation.

Research Instruments
Research instruments are the tools that the researchers designed and used to generate information in the study field which helped them to keep track of what they observed (Lofland, Snow, & Anderson, 2013).
Questionnaires and interviews were used as the research instruments. Questionnaires were mostly preferred since data can be colleched feom a large group of people at the same time while interviews allowed for clarification of questions and probing of respondents (Cameron, 2013). In harmony with qualitative research, the researchers also took the task to operate as data generation media; hence, triangulation with regards research instrumentation was effected. This enhanced the trustworthiness and credibility of the research findings (Creswell & Maieta, 2013;Wegner, 2011).

Data Generation Methods and Analysis
A number of research authorities (e.g., Burns & Grove, 2013;Creswell, 2014;Crotty, 2018;Gribbs, 2012), concur that the generation and analysis of qualitative data is most appropriately done with the guidance of research objectives, In the current study, data generation and analysis was therefore based on the five objectives of the study. Weiss (2019) notes that content analysis is the most common form of data analysis in qualitative research as it emphasises the analysis of social data that is important to the description of a phenomenon. This analtytic method was therefore, appropriate is assessing the impact of SACCOs on sustainable rural livelihoods in the area under study.

Presentation & Analysis of Findings
The respondents, who were SACCOs members, were asked on what they understood by savings and credit cooperatives or societies. From the findings, 16 (32%) indicated that it was the ability by members to come together with the mission of achieving the desired goal. Others 14 (28%) pointed out that cooperatives were projects meant for them to be able to sustain their families. The majority, 20 (40%), indicated that cooperatives were the reason that they are able to provide food for their families and commit their children to schools. This premised that the response was dwelt on the importance of cooperatives in the society. These findings concur with Wanyama (2009) who asserts that savings and credit cooperatives are bodies formed by a group of people with a common interest to save members collectively, and then make loans available to the group members for the beneifit of their families.
Respondents were required to respond on how savings and credit cooperatives assisted on sustaining their livelihoods and those of their families. The results showed that 17 (34%) paid school fees for their children and siblings, 6 (12%) paid hospital bills, 15 (30%) bought food and clothes for family, 4 (8%) purchased building materials and 8 (16%) got financial support. Although, not so many people were sustained through hospital bill payments, financial support and purchase of building materials, most people managed to pay fees and bought food and clothes for their families. It can therefore, be ascertained that the SACCOs are important in sustaining the rural population in the area under study. These results also demonstrate that, to some extent, savings and credit cooperatives are important for service provision and improving the reach and access of financial services to its members. Hence, there is need to create a conducive environment so that the rural populace can effectively implement SACCOs in order to be able to sustain themselves, their families and communities in different possible ways.
Respondents were also asked to comment on the factors affecting savings and credit cooperatives on sustaining livelihood in their rural community. SACCOs members were affected by failure to recover loans and these accounted for 21 (42%), leadership and institutional capacity 6 (12%), competition from other cooperatives 12 (24%), poor accounting and records system 8 (16%) and financial constraints 3 (6%). It is unfortunate to note that the SACCOS are mostly affected by failure to recover loans as indicated by 42%, followed by competition from other cooperatives which accounts for 24%. Thus, these findings show that SACCOs are affected by a constellation of factors some of which are beyond their control, hence, it is not easy to realise success and effectiveness in their implementation in rural communities. Furthermore, the questionnaire also required the participants to indicate how their cooperatives impacted on their lives in relation to advancing the socio-economic goals of their community. The researcher established that 16 (32%) of the participants responded that cooperatives enabled them to have something to occupy their lives with, hence eliminating idleness which often brings stress. In addition, it was established that 19 (38%) benefitted from the business management skills attained through their training, which made them better persons capable of pursuing socio-economic success. In addition, 8 (16%) indicated that they were able to pay outstanding balances of their credits while 7(14%) managed to coexist with others as they shared some products and ideas on how to expand their business. Thus, SACCOs have a positive effect on the lives of members in relation to propoting the socio-economic goals of their community in addition to enabling members to fend for themselves and their families, thereby enhancing livelihood sustainability.
The participants were also asked on how the Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helped their cooperatives to sustain livelihoods. Half 25 (50%) of the participants indicated that the local NGOs intervened through technical assistance where they provided workshops and training to empower the local entrepreneurs. A total 16 (32%) responded that they were made to self-sustain themselves through training on how to manage their projects and how to evaluate progress and this was done fortnightly so as to have continuous assessment of the cooperative members' progress. The other 9 (18%) indicated that there were equipped with knowledge on financial and general project management. The results reveal that participants were not offered with any funding but provided with technical knowledge and skills.
This way of intervention by NGQs is critical to reduce dependency syndrome amongst the rural people as they are trained to be self-sustaining.
NGO officials interviewed were also asked about the roles of savings and credit cooperatives in sustaining rural livelihoods. The NGOs officials responded that cooperatives have improved the lives of people in the rural communities to generate employment, boost food production, empower the marginalised, especially women and promote social cohesion and integration, thereby improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty. Also, the respondents said that the cooperatives facilitated access to credit as members are able to get loans and invest in different projects such as small agricultural activities or others of their desires, procurement and storage, distribution of input and marketing of products and so on. On challenges faced by SACCOs in sustaining livelihoods in rural communities, the NGO officials mentioned hyper-inflation that has seen the banks operating without cash. Also, it was found out that the inconsistent monetary policies in Zimbabwe caused detriment to the operation of the cooperatives as the owners cannot make financial projections of their future plans. The respondents added that the financial constraints have made the members to fail to borrow loans from the banks to boost their cooperatives so as to enhance their livelihoods.
Savings and credit cooperatives also encountered specific challenges in sustaining livelihoods in the rural area under study and this can be illustrated using the following table.

Discussion of Findings
From the study findings, the researchers deduced that savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) play a signififant role in sustaining livelihoods in rural communities. Most SACCOs members involved in the current study indicated that they were able to do quite a number of things because of being members of the cooperatives. These included paying school fees for their children and siblings, buying food and clothes for their families, paying hospital bills, buying building materials and so on. These findings are in harmony with Temeche's (2014) study which revealed that savings and credit cooperatives contribute to the promotion of total human development, develop people's minds by creating initiativeness and innovation, promoting self-development and self-reliance as well as providing technical and leadership skills. It can therefore be premised that SACCOs enhance the well-being and raise the living standards of rural people, making it possible for economic emancipation of members while sustaining their livelihoods and those of their families.
Outside the efforts of the SACCOs, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helped cooperatives through capacitating members with knowledge and technical skills which enhanced their self reliance and subsequently livelihood sustainance. SACCOs have had a notable impact in sustaining livelihoods among the residents of Nekatambe Ward 13 rural community in Hwange district of Zimbabwe. These included the fact that cooperatives enabled members to have something productive to occupy their lives with while they also benefitted from the technical and business management skills attained through trainings.
Quite a number of challenges are associated with SACCOs in sustaining livelihoods in the rural community under study. These include the failure to recover loans, competition from more established cooperatives, lack of start-up capital, financial and managerial skills and the general national economic meltdown.

Conclusion
From the study findings, the researchers concluded that, despite the challenges associated with SACCOs, their existence under members' resilience, has generally improved the lives of people in rural communities to generate employment, boost food production, send their children to school and empower the marginalized among other positive developments.

Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, the researchers recommend that:  There is need to create a conducive environment for the SACCOs so that the rural populace can be able to sustain themselves, their families and communities as they thrive for service provision and improving the reach and access of financial services.  Funding of SACCOs from either government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should mostly be for start-up capital, then later on technical skills support in order to reduce dependence syndrome amongst the people and promote self-sustenance.
 Since cooperatives are critical to the economic growth and development of the country, the ministry responsible for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should step up its support for their growth so that they contribute more effectively to the national fiscus while at the same time boosting their ability to sustain rural livelihoods.
 The SACCOs need to conscientise their members for educational empowerment and technical skills upgrading so as to understand business management principles and other technical aspects in their endeavour to sustain livelihoods.
 The SACCOs should create partnership with institutions of higher education such as technical colleges and universities so as to benefit from the skilled labour and training resources through attachments.
 The SACCOs should diversify their operations and invest in fixed assets in order to curtail business challenges and make lucrative benefits that can expand the institutions and sustain rural communities and the nation at large.
 The government, NGOs, local leadership and other interested organs should support SACCOs through any other possible means so as to alleviate the possible challenges that cripple the cooperatives in their bid to promote rural livelihood sustainability.