This is the final version. Available from BRACED via the link in this recordkey messages
• Niger is a least developed country prone
to recurrent drought, which affects a large
share of the population and results in
severe food security issues.
• Support mechanisms, including access to
adequate financial resources, are important for
individuals and communities to better prepare
for and cope with climate extremes.
• Village savings and loan associations
(VSLAs) are implemented as a means to
support rural communities, address livelihood
shocks and strengthen social capital.
• Two innovative research methods – financial
diaries and serious games – have been
carried out in Niger, to help support a better
understanding of VSLAs’ contribution to
climate resilience.
• These innovative tools reveal
behavioural changes that help complete our
understanding of how VSLAs can contribute
to resilience-building in dimensions that
are often unexplored, including (i) gender
empowerment; (ii) social trust; and
(iii) natural resource management.
• This paper paves the way for further analysis
of the role of VSLAs in building communities’
resilience by documenting the linkages
between financial inclusion and resilience
to climate extremes.
• These methods, based on community
participation, provide a complementary
alternative to traditional monitoring and
evaluation methods. They contribute
to the ‘monitoring–evaluation–learning’
trinity by blending evaluation and learningDFI
