When Grace Namutebi first joined a KWDT women's group in Mpunge sub-county, she was surviving on UGX 3,000 a day — barely enough to feed her four children. Two years later, she owns two dairy cows, has installed a biogas plant, and is training other women in her village on organic farming. Her story is not unique. It is the story of KWDT's revolving scheme.
What Is the Revolving Scheme?
The revolving scheme is a self-financing mechanism at the heart of KWDT's economic empowerment model. First beneficiaries receive assets — a cow, a biosand water filter, fruit trees, a rainwater harvesting tank, or fish processing equipment — and repay an agreed, affordable instalment over time. Those repayments are pooled to enable the next group of beneficiaries to access the same assets.
Unlike grants that create one-time impact, the revolving model creates a perpetual cycle of access. It has enabled KWDT to scale its reach without proportional increases in donor funding.
What the Numbers Show
Across KWDT's 52 women's groups spanning Mukono, Kalangala, and Buvuma districts:
- 596 women now practice integrated agriculture, increasing yields and sustainable resource use for over 5,300 people
- 113 women have been supported to acquire dairy cows
- 27 women generate and use biogas from cow dung, reducing dependence on firewood
- 390 women use energy-saving stoves, cutting household fuel costs by up to 40%
- 275 women have diversified away from fishing, reducing pressure on Lake Victoria's fish stocks
- 86 women in five groups use energy-saving fish smoking kilns, dramatically reducing charcoal use in fish processing
Beyond Income: The Multiplier Effect on Community Health
KWDT's experience confirms what development economists have long argued: when you invest in a woman, you invest in her entire community. Income gains from the revolving scheme have translated directly into higher school enrolment rates among children of members, reduced incidences of gender-based violence, and improved nutrition in households.
The organic manure produced by biogas plants has improved soil fertility on plots where chemical fertilizers were once unaffordable. The 2,641 multipurpose trees planted by members have begun restoring degraded lakeside ecosystems that communities depend on for their water security.
Scaling What Works
KWDT's revolving scheme model has been replicated across women's groups as the network has grown. The key to its success is simplicity: community members design the repayment terms themselves, making the scheme locally owned rather than externally imposed. When women feel that the system belongs to them, repayment rates remain high and social pressure to honour commitments is built into the group structure.
We are currently exploring how to extend the revolving scheme to solar energy access and digital financial tools — the next frontier for fisher community empowerment.