Be Sustainable

While many development programs have no lasting impact, approximately 95 percent of the Saving for Change groups in Mali, some of them trained almost ten years ago, are still saving and lending. Most are visited only every few months or not at all. While operating independently, these groups have survived a coup, an insurgency in the north, a major drought, skyrocketing food prices, influxes of displaced people, and faltering institutions, so there is little reason to believe they will weaken in the future.