An Investigation on the Effect of Savings and Internal Lending Communities Participation on Poverty Reduction among Informal Operators in Shangai Informal Settlement Mpika, Zambia

Abstract

Social protection comprises policies and programmes that are put in place in order to reduce the lifelong consequences that negatively affect society's well-being. About 4 billion people around the world are not on social protection programmes provided by the government (ILO, 2020). They are either on private formal or traditional and informal mechanisms such as Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC). The participation in SILC in several studies has indicated that the participants had alleviated poverty through asset accumulation. However, the effect of SILC participation by informal operators in Shangai informal settlements on poverty reduction has not been documented, hence this study. The specific objectives of the study were to characterize and determine the effect of Savings and Internal Lending Communities' participation in poverty reduction among informal operators in Shangai informal settlements. The study employed a descriptive research design with a sample size of 112 randomly selected. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. The quantitative data was analyzed and presented as means, frequency and percentages. Examination of the effects of SILC participation and poverty reduction was done using an independent t-test and Binary logistic regression with a p<0.05 as a criterion of Statistical significance. Results showed that participation in SILC led to poverty reduction through the accumulation of sponge mattresses and beds. Therefore, this study recommends that the government build SILC groups as viable social protection coverage for the informal sector.