In 2022, Ali joined the Tujikomboe Kijaluba iSave Group, a savings and credit group established by SHIJUWAZA and TAMWA with funding from NAD Zanzibar, first as a member and later becoming its chairperson.
He then saved consistently and was able to borrow through the group’s savings and credit model, which allows members to access loans of up to three times their savings. He used the loans to improve irrigation, increase crop production, and expand his poultry business to more than 100 chickens. With space already secured for further expansion, he plans to add another 200 chickens.
Ali’s income has since increased by 60 percent. For him, however, the change goes beyond income and has transformed how he sees his own abilities. “I did not just increase my income in numbers. I have finally overcome the rigid belief that persons with disabilities can only beg or lack the ability to grow. Disability does not mean inability.”
The Kijaluba iSave Groups have been funded by NAD with support from Norad since their establishment and are currently part of the Norad-funded CADiR programme.
