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SfC Replicator,
Saving for Change
Kleum Poch
A replicator is a key SfC group member in the village who forms new saving groups and gives them support.
Saving for Change is savings-led microfinance model pioneered by Oxfam and partners in Cambodia since 2005. Members primarily women living in rural communities form a group that saves, lends, and pays dividends to its members. Group members elect their own leadership, set their bylaws, and decide collectively how to achieve their goals.
Svay Mon, a saving group member in Kampot’s Angkor Chey district, deposits modest cash weekly to grow her group fund. Last year, she took out a group loan to invest in building a water storage/ family pond. She’s now able to grow vegetables all year long and adapts better to the changing climate. To watch the video, Click Here.
Too much or too little water can cause a serious problem for farmers. Cambodian farmers are particularly vulnerable, as they heavily depend on rainwaters to irritate their crop. To understand how some farmers tackle the water problem, I sat with Svay Mon, a farming woman in Kampot’s Angkor Chey district.
In 2010, Ms. Mon heard about Saving for Change, a community finance project introduced to her village by Save Cambodia’s Wildlife with a grant from Oxfam. She decided to join and formed a saving group of 15. In the first year, they pooled a little bit of money (2,000-5,000 riel) each week.
Ms. Mon, 64, was striving to adapt to the effects of the erratic rainfall patterns, scientists say resulted from climate change. She figured she needed a pond to store rainwater for use during the dry season. That would, however, cost her a fortune, or she would be drowned in debts if should she visit a moneylender.
Mon’s dream to have a personal water reservoir came true. She borrowed 1 million riel ($250) to have a pond dug behind her house. “Saving group offers the closest and convenient place for me to save and access financial assistance,” Mon said. SfC has helped her to cope better with drought and improve food security, she added.
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Fighting Climate Change with Community Savings
Kleum Poch is a saving group member in Mongkol Borey dictrict in Banteay Meanchey province. Her life has been changed positively, economically and in capacity. She has been appointed as Replicator for nearly two years. Additional report by RACHA.
SfC Outcomes to Date Importance Ranking
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Evidences of Change
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Areas of Impact
The Potential Demand for Savings-led Financial Services in Cambodia It is estimated that 3 to 4 million Cambodians could benefit from joining Saving for Change. The project is now reaching 100,000 clients. The target is to reach 1 million clients in the next five years.
Basic Principles of SfC • • • • • • •
No grant or matching fund to group Group is autonomous, self-regulated Members are self-selected, based on trust Seven weekly training sessions Weekly savings, flexible cash deposits Rolling saving cycle, usually 12 months Fund distribution
Links to Available Reports
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1. Longitudinal study- “Saving for Change’s Research Study in Banteay Mean Chey and Kampot Provinces”, 2010, 2011, 2013
What do members believe is the most significant change that has taken place in their life compared to before joining the SfC groups?
Leading NGOs in Cambodia and other development actors are seeing SfC as a stable, low-cost and sustainable service to the poor with the potential to provide and look for community’s participation, selfdirection and leadership across a very wide spectrum of development agendas.
2. “Sustainability Study of Savings Group Programs in Cambodia”, 2012 3. “Contribution of Saving for Change to livelihood recovery and DRR/CCA in the flood affected areas of Kampong Thom”, 2013
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