Halcrow Foundation is supporting MicroLoan Foundation’s livelihood development programme in Mumbwa District, Zambia. The UK-based charity reduces poverty by providing loan capital and training to help women build small businesses.
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. According to World Bank, 58 percent of the population live in rural areas where women and girls face particular hardships. Early marriages and limited education opportunities prevent most from earning their own income and this creates a cycle of poverty for their families.
Improving food security
Halcrow Foundation partnered with MicroLoan Foundation to support its Livelihood Programme which is designed to help women with little education and no assets, and no access to formal education. It gives them the tools and knowledge to generate income through free financial and business training and small, affordable loans. This empowers the women to improve their food security, access healthcare and pay for their children’s education.
Our funds help MicroLoan employ seven field staff to deliver free training and support to the women who have been given loans. It also pays the salaries of locally employed staff to work with the beneficiaries, as well as office equipment, motorbikes and cost of travel to the villages.
Thanks to Halcrow Foundation funds, an estimated 900 women benefit from MicroLoan’s financial services, enabling 3,600 of their dependents to access education and healthcare. The rural communities rely on small-scale farming and many of the female entrepreneurs have set up grocery stores or sell produce in their local markets.
Ongoing support
We’ve been supporting MicroLoan since 2020, when we helped fund its Women’s Empowerment Project. This enabled four local field staff to travel to villages and deliver free financial and business training and support to women who were given loans.
Here are some of the women who now generate their own income thanks to MicroLoan support.
