This archive report was first published on 10 December 2019.
Kenya's deposit-taking saccos have a significant gender imbalance, with men making up the majority in low-asset farmer-based saccos, a recent survey has revealed.
According to the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra), 50 male-dominated farmer-based saccos account for 47.81 percent of the membership in Kenya's deposit-taking saccos, with a total of 2,286,054 members out of 4,781,212 registered members.
Of this membership, 789,403 members were female, 1,343,632 were male, and the gender details of 153,019 members were missing.
Despite having three times more members than teacher and government saccos combined, the farmer-based saccos hold a paltry 10.11 percent of total deposits and 10.39 percent of total assets.
By comparison, the 43 teacher-owned entities control Sh177.9 billion in assets, being 35.5 percent of the total assets, and Sh119.1 billion in deposits, or 34.8 percent of total deposits.
The 35 government saccos hold Sh186.6 billion assets, being 37.7 percent of total assets, and Sh131.2 billion in deposits, or a 38.4 percent of total deposit stake.
As of last December, farmer DT-Saccos held Sh34.57 billion in deposits and Sh51.44 billion in total assets.
According to Sasra, the majority of members of the farmer saccos make very little savings and receive minimal amounts in credit facilities from their saccos, compared to members of teacher and government-based saccos.
Farmer saccos hold a significant stake in the younger demographic, with 58.88 percent of members aged between 18 and 24 years, and 60.24 percent of members above 65 years.
