Kikondo, UG – Zinabala VICOBA reports successful year 2023 with opportunities for 2024 – Dec 2023

Before the December holidays members of Zinabala, some posed wearing their new VICOBA uniform shirts, met to learn results from 2023 reporting opened by the group’s Vice President. The VICOBA maintained and sustained its four projects: member savings and credit available to members; staple crop garden for VICOBA earning; bee keeping for VICOBA earning; and liquid soap making for VICOBA earning.

Every week Zinabala meets to collect savings deposits from its members and to discuss possible loans to its 30 members. In 2023 VICOBA members deposited 4,700,000 shillings (about $1,342) into their savings accounts. Those deposits funded 57 loans to members. The term of member loans is 3 months, when they are repaid in full. Interest Zinabala earned on those loans was 950,000 shillings (about $271). Members who received the loans had opportunities to earn profit from sales of their shop inventory purchases, grocery kiosks, poultry projects, and 3 staple crop garden business operated by individual members.

The largest VICOBA business is growing maize and beans on 3.5 acres whose use is donated by a member. As a group Zinabala sold its first rain season maize harvest for 1,200,000 shillings (about $343) and bean harvest for 2,000,000 shillings (about $572). The VICOBA reinvested 1,000,000 shillings (about $286) in second rain season expenses of monocrop-planted maize and reserved for lending and distribution the remainder.

Honey and liquid soap sales businesses are smaller. The VICOBA keeps 12 bee hives from which it sold 12.5 kilograms of honey at 40,000 shillings each, making 500,000 shillings (about $143). This project doesn’t require any operation costs because a Zinabala member has equipment and knowledge he donates. The group made a profit of 150,000 shillings (about $43) in the liquid soap making project.

The VICOBA recorded less profits in this year than they had expected, as a result of low profits in the honey and liquid soap businesses. People didn’t buy as was expected and sales were lower. They hope to start adding value to products, most especially its liquid soap and honey, so that those attract more customers. In this way they will be able to earn more income in 2024.