Can Informal Savings Groups Promote Food Security and Social, Economic and Health Transformations, Especially among Women in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa: A Narrative Systematic Review

Akim Tafadzwa Lukwa, Feyisayo Odunitan-Wayas, Estelle Victoria Lambert, Olufunke A. Alaba and on behalf of the “Savings for Health” IDRC Collaborators
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Akim Tafadzwa Lukwa: Health Economics Unit, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7935, South Africa
Feyisayo Odunitan-Wayas: Research Centre for Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle & Sport, Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Estelle Victoria Lambert: Research Centre for Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle & Sport, Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Olufunke A. Alaba: Health Economics Unit, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7935, South Africa
on behalf of the “Savings for Health” IDRC Collaborators: “Savings for Health” IDRC collaborators are provided in the Supplementary Materials.

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-26

Abstract: This narrative review aimed to identify if roles of common informal savings groups known as Accumulating Savings and Credit Associations (ASCAs) or Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) can play a significant role in mitigating food insecurity, socioeconomic inequality, promoting health, and/or increasing agency in women in urban sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These organizations exist in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) worldwide under various names. A comprehensive search of scholarly outputs across six electronic databases (Pub-Med, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Sabinet, and Cochrane) from 2000 to 2021 was completed. Twenty-eight (28) records met our inclusion criteria, and their quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist. We identified through thematic analysis that ROSCAs/ASCAs play a crucial role in advancing social, economic, and health transformations, especially among women in urban SSA. However, while ROSCAs/ACSAs played important roles in food security, it was often not the primary motivation for participation. None of the selected studies identified the importance of dietary quality or access to healthy food in relation to food security. This review suggests a window of opportunity to promote partnerships and collaborations of ROSCAs/ASCAs with relevant stakeholders to leverage the functionalities of ROSCAs/ASCAs as vehicles for re-alignment of priorities, increased knowledge, and opportunities to encourage affordable healthy diets in urban SSA.

Keywords: informal savings groups; ROSCAs; ASCAs; food (in)security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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