Members of the Associations are rural women who contribute money and save weekly to support each other financially and that improved their livelihood conditions among other things.

At a durbar organized by the Association as part of activities to mark the International Women's Day, Madam Felicia Amoah, the Chairperson of the Noyine-Kasi taaba group of the VSLA, said the savings and loans scheme had helped to curb the high rate of women migrating from their communities to other parts of the country in search of menial jobs.

The durbar was also meant to illustrate the effort women were making to contribute to protecting the environment and its inhabitants and gave the members a chance to deliberate on how they could strengthen the Association.

Madam Amoah said members could secure loans from the facility without difficulty, to pay their children's school fees, boost their businesses and take care of other family issues.

Most of the women are engaged in petty trading such as basket weaving, soap making, and Shea butter production, she said.

Madam Amoah said the VSLA had brought unity among the members as they regarded each other as one people fighting for a common goal.

Madam Paulina Ayimbilla, a physically challenged mother of four said she was tempted to travel to the southern sector to beg for alms, but stayed back when she was introduced to the association and since then she had been able to secure a loan to pay her daughter's school fees at the tertiary level.

She further pointed out that the VSLA had empowered the women to be assertive and claim what rightfully belonged to them due to the unity and cohesion they had built through the association.

Mr Evils Kuudaar, the National Facilitator of the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) commended the women for seeing the need to initiate development and said the FFF was committed to supporting them to advance in various ways including; protecting the environment.

Mr Kuudaar said women were friends of environment and could help in preventing climate change, if given the support to do so.

He said the FFF would continue to liaise with Tele-Bere to enable it create platforms that would generate development oriented programmes for its members and aid their businesses to grow beyond savings and loans.

He urged the women to mobilise well so as to be able to seek support from government, philanthropist, NGOs and other institutions.