By Chris Mugasha
BUSHENYI: Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOs) and other financial institutions have been cautioned to stop from focusing only on profits at the end of every year at the expense of the environment.
According to financial experts, for quite some time, SACCOs/financial institutions have not made issues of environmental conservation a priority.
They said the financial institutions have tended to focus only on making profits to the extent of extending loans to some people whose activities have negatively impacted on the environment.
“With this climate change, think about what is likely to happen in the near future. Think about your members because some of the members who borrow from you (SACCOs), the money ends up being lost in natural disasters like floods, prolonged droughts, declined harvests among others,” urged Olivia Kisori a Financial Education advisor.
Kisori warned SACCOs saying loan products like that of agriculture will come to the end if they don’t help people on issues of mitigation and adaptation measures to thrive in the climate change era which has become a global concern.
“Members will not continue to borrow money when they are experiencing reduced/failed harvests and loss of property due to climate change and that will kick you out of business,” Kisori stressed as she warned the SACCOs.
Kisori and other financial experts were on Friday speaking during a ‘Green Inclusive Finance’ training workshop that attracted leaders of five SACCOs in the Greater Bushenyi region. The SACCOs that attended the training that took place at Western Meridian hotel in Bushenyi town are; Butuuro, Muhame, Kigarama, Jubilee and Igabu SACCOs.
The training was organized by Uganda Co-operative Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU) in partnership with Germany development organizations-German Sparkassenstiftung for International Cooperation and Partners in Transformation Chambers and Associations. UCSCU is an umbrella body for SACCOs in the Country-Uganda.
“As SACCO leaders, you must start to think big. You need to start taking decisions that are environmentally focused,” Kisori appealed.
The leaders were asked to refine some of their loan products and stop from funding activities like charcoal burning which are linked to deforestation and increasing emissions in the atmosphere.
“This can only be achieved by you (leaders) going an extra mile to innovate new things/loan products which are eco friendly,” noted Patrick Serubura a financial trainer with UCSCU.
The leaders were further asked to dedicate resources and deliberately sensitize people about the dangers of environmental degradation, the need to go for organic fertilizer/organic farming and the need to go for organic foods. “Go beyond making profits and educate your people. Have you not seen different cancers increasing? Educate people about the benefits of organic foods,” appealed Serubura.
The leaders however blamed the government for looking on when the environment is getting depleted. “Who is licensing the companies that manufacture chemicals? Who has failed to ban polythene/plastic bags? What do our leaders benchmark when they travel outside Uganda?” asked one leader.
The leaders of the SACCOs used the opportunity to lobby the German development partners to extend grants for Green Finance to SACCOs. They argued that lack of enough capital has led them (SACCOs) to leave some areas/sectors unattended to.
Butuuro SACCO presented how their rain water harvesting loan product has not only helped people to have water in their homes but also helped on solving soil erosion, enabling people to have small scale irrigation, improved sanitation and hygiene, organic farming among others.
Annika Lohnes a financial expert and advisor from Kreissparkasse Rentlingen organization in German said some interventions of saving the environment don’t require a lot of money but rather a shift in mindset change and mainstreaming issues of the environment in their activities.
Some SACCOs in the country like Kyamuhunga Peoples SACCO (KYAPS) have gone an extra mile to fund farmers who are in tree growing in areas like Katerera, Rubirizi district. End
