SaveAct held its 4th Annual Partners' Meeting over four days this week in Pietermaritzburg under the theme: "Programme strengthening, partnership building, enhancing impact".

On the back of strong commitment from SaveAct and its partners to embrace the issue of disability, it was agreed at the recent 2016 Annual Partners' Meeting that staff would start to systematically track the number of disabled members in savings and credit groups as one indicator of inclusivity.

This short video captures, in their own words, some of the impressive achievements of two enterprising smallholder women farmers who have used the opportunities presented by SaveAct programmes to improve household finances and food security, as well as generate income through a poultry-producing enterprise.

SaveAct operations manager for KwaZulu-Natal Dr Sazile Mtshali has a PhD focused on rural livelihoods in KwaZulu-Natal. She also has many years’ experience of teaching in the field of rural development, including agriculture and home economics. To commemorate Women’s Day 2016, Dr Mtshali shares her reflections on the value of SaveAct’s work for its female members and why she’s proud of the work she does.

Members of four SaveAct-led groups gathered in Eshowe to celebrate their graduation after 18 months and to share stories about how their membership has changed their lives.

An essay by Thibault Uytterhaegen which examines the lack of confidence in mobile money transfers among savings groups near Margate on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

A blog by Elyssa Lewis, MSc student at the University of California, Davis on the impact of SaveAct's work, particularly around household food security.