Research | Women's groups in Senegal

This is a continuation of the case study about Women's Centre in Rufisque. This post attempts to figure out how the communities form and create informal economy that becomes the core of the improvement.

In Senegal there is a government supported women's movement known as GPF (Groupement de promotion féminine) that has helped women organize and improve their situation themselves especially in the rural area. Although GPF is a subject of politicization that often lacks resources and funding, most women's groups and activities have still emerged spontaneously without governmental or municipal involvement or support. Following classification of women groups according to their function is based on the study which Anne Rosenlew conducted in Rufisque collecting data roughly from 50 women's groups from 1994 to 1998.

–Tontine
Tontine is the most common and popular form of women's groups as bank loans are practically unavailable to women they have to establish their own savings and loan system. The only way married women can earn money for the family is informal small scale trade, which is the most common form of livelihood for women of all ages. The women belonging to a tontine hold regular meetings and saving certain sum of money among its members. The sum of money is given to one or several person depending the size of the group and according to a system of rotation established in advance. This allows women to purchase some more expensive products or services they might need.

–Mbootay
Mbootay means association, society or club in local language. In rural villages the mbootay was the reference group for women of similar age or "extended family". In Mbootays the same age women work together for both everyday and festive occasions and form strong life-long ties of friendship. This extended family then helps women with their or their family's important milestones suchs as weddings and funerals etc. Mbootay also serves as social security in situations of crisis and provides important psychological and material support for its members.

–Collective
Collective is a more modern and more formal variant of working together. Collectives are officially declared at the Dakar Chamber of Commerce. Their function is primarily to serve as purchasing collectives for women that are engaged in small scale trade. Members of a collective may often have various joint investment projects by owning together some cooking pans or other utilities etc. that they can rent out for special occasions held in the neighborhood. Collectives can specialize and invest for example in growing vegetables or raising sheep or making clothes. Women belonging to a collective often have a higher sosio-economic status than women in general and they also play usually an important social role in the community. Collectives ensure more stable income to their members than tontines. Collectives are directed by boards that are elected from among the members while tontines have usually only one leader each and the leader has all the responsibility of running the system.

It will be great if we could meet Anne Rosenlew and learn what the preconditions are for communities to emerge. We will try to reach her and, if possible, invite her to the final critique to share ideas.