A Qualitative Analysis of Savings and Internal Lending Communities in Haiti: Do They Make a Difference?

USAID/Haiti commissioned the study to learn whether the SILC groups created under the CHAMP project met members' needs, affected individual, child and household well-being and continued after donor support ended. The researchers selected seven high-performing and seven low-performing groups out of the 159 groups formed and held in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in Creole, translated and analyzed in Atlas-TI. Members reported using loans and share-out funds for business investment, school fees, health expenses, household consumption and the purchase of land or livestock, and said SILC differed from other financial institutions through lower interest rates, a sense of ownership of funds and community solidarity.

Of the 159 groups, 83 (52%) could be located and 69 were still active, so at least 43% continued after the donor withdrew. Groups disbanded when stipends for community mobilizers ceased or when members lost motivation, and a sense of ownership of capital and of the methodology appeared to be the key to sustainability.