Savings Programmes and Food Security of Women and Their Children in Ethiopia

Abstract

Women in low and middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. The non-profit humanitarian organisation CARE has implemented village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, in many Sub-Saharan African countries to enhance women’s access to savings and credit and empower them to tackle the challenges of food insecurity. Despite the importance of this innovative programme, its effects on food security outcomes have not been thoroughly examined. This study examined whether women’s participation in VSLAs was associated with food security of women and their children. Using data collected by CARE involving 1,077 women and their children in Ethiopia, our findings showed that VSLA participation was significantly associated with a higher dietary diversity score among women. The findings also suggest that under certain conditions, VSLAs targeting women may positively influence food security of women and their children.

Keywords:

• food security
• dietary diversity
• Ethiopia
• women empowerment
• savings programme

Acknowledgement

We thank CARE Canada for providing the Improved Health and Nutrition in Africa data used in this research and acknowledge that CARE has the ownership of the data. All errors in the manuscript are entirely our responsibility. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We included breastmilk and infant formula following the new guidelines set by the WHO and UNICEF (2021).