Effects of Wholesale Lending to SACCOs in Uganda - Rural Finance ...

The data collection instruments are included in Appendices IV through VII. In addition, the
research team designed a list of relevant questions to be asked of wholesale lenders, apex
institutions and other stakeholder organizations.
FIELD RESEARCH
The field research team consisted of the Principal Researcher, a local consultant with
expertise in conducting focus group discussions, and additional researchers from the SC who
joined each field mission to conduct interviews with management and Boards of Directors.
In total, 15 of the 16 selected SACCOs were visited between 5 th July and 4 th August. The
research team conducted seven in-depth qualitative and quantitative field visits of SACCOs
that borrowed external funds. The field visits included:
! An interview with the Manager and other management staff;
! An interview with the Board of Directors;
! One or two focus group discussions with randomly selected SACCO members; and,
! An examination and data capture of the SACCO’s audited financial statements,
portfolio reports and membership ledgers and documents 3
In addition, the research team interviewed the management team, and in some cases
members of the SACCO and members of the Board of Directors, of the five additional
institutions selected for rapid field visits.
The eighth institution selected for an in-depth field visit, Kigulu Development Group,
refused to participate. This institution was to be the “challenge SACCO” in the Eastern
region. The manager and BOD of the institution declined to make a formal comment for the
study.
The field visits to the control group SACCOs included interviews of the management team
and, in some cases, members of the Board of Directors. The research team collected
financial data for two of the three control SACCOs.
FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
The research team compiled a list of research questions regarding members’ perceptions of
the SACCO for institutions that received external funds. In particular, the researchers
wanted to know if the following things changed after a SACCO accessed external credit:
members’ perceptions of the ownership of the institution; members’ attitudes towards debt
and towards savings; members’ perceptions on the repayment of loans from outside sources;
and, their attitudes toward loan repayment to the SACCO.
The FGDs had an average of six participants, both men and women. The consultant used an
interview guide prepared for him by the Principal Researcher and also employed
Participatory Rapid Assessment tools including brain storming and preference ranking to
3 In some instances, the SACCO was not able to produce the requested statements and documents to the
research team. In these cases, the research team collected copies of the statements and documents available.
The Effects of Wholesale Lending to SACCOs in Uganda
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