This is an electronic implementation of a savings system already practiced by cooperatives in the villages where members put cash savings in a locked box that has its keys distributed among key members in the group. During a meeting, members with the keys will unlock the box in the presence of everyone else if they need to take some money out.
This should be possible on the mobile app with a few modifications and simplifications. This feature is launced by clicking on VSLA from the Finance menu. Clicking on VSLA should show Savings and Withdrawals.
Savings can either be made by individual farmers or the cooperative as a whole. Agents will be responsible for recording and taking these savings on behalf of the farmers and cooperatives. Savings can either be made in cash or commodity.
Clicking on Savings should show two icons, Farmer and Cooperative. Savings can be done for either of the two. Clicking on Farmer will go to a screen showing a list of the latest 50 savings saved for farmers. This list should be searchable. Scrolling down the list should load more records if any exist. The agent should be able to create a new savings record from this screen.
To collect savings the agent clicks on VSLA > Savings > Farmers. The agent first needs to search for the farmer they wish to collect savings for. They search using the farmer’s registered mobile number. If the farmer does not exist, they need to first be registered on the platform. If the farmer exists the following non editable information about them is displayed:
The agent then enters the following details to collect savings.
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Yes | How much the farmer is contributing to their savings. Should show the numeric keyboard only. |
| Payment method | Yes | How is the farmer contributing. cash or commodity |
| Contribution date | Yes | When was the contribution made. It is possible a contribution was made on a date different from when it was recorded. |
If the payment method is commodity the agent needs to collect the following additional details
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity name | Yes | Name of the commodity the farmer used as their savings contribution |
| Measure | Yes | Measure of the commodity. This is only applicable if commodity type is crop |
| Unit Price | Yes | How much is each unit of the commodity the farmer contributed. This will determine how much money will be recorded against the farmer's savings |
| Quantity | Yes | How many commodities did the farmer contribute |
Clicking the next button should show a page with the following summary:
The agent can from this screen either save the record or make changes. After saving, the agent must be taken back to the list of savings for farmers. From this list the agent should be able to add new savings for the same or other farmers, edit and also delete records.
Clicking on VSLA > Savings > Cooperatives should allow agents to view and collect savings for cooperatives. The first screen shows a list of the latest savings collected for cooperatives in the region. This list should be searchable. Scrolling down the list should load more records if any exist. The agent should be able to create a new savings record from this screen.
To save a new record, the agent first searches for the name of the cooperative. If it does not exist they will need to create it. If the cooperative exists, the following details are displayed:
The agent then enters the following details to collect savings:
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Yes | How much the farmer is contributing to their savings. Should show the numeric keyboard only. |
| Payment method | Yes | How is the farmer contributing. cash or commodity |
| Contribution date | Yes | When was the contribution made. It is possible a contribution was made on a date different from when it was recorded. |
If the payment method is commodity the agent needs to collect the following additional details
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity name | Yes | Name of the commodity the farmer used as their savings contribution |
| Measure | Yes | Measure of the commodity. This is only applicable if commodity type is crop |
| Unit Price | Yes | How much is each unit of the commodity the farmer contributed. This will determine how much money will be recorded against the farmer's savings |
| Quantity | Yes | How many commodities did the farmer contribute |
Clicking the next button should show a page with the following summary:
The agent can from this screen either save the record or make changes. After saving the agent is taken back to the list of savings for cooperatives. From this list the agent should be able to add other contributions, edit or delete records.
The section below about withdrawals should be ignored for now. The decision has been made to handle withdrawals using USSD.
Once contributions have been made, farmers and cooperatives should be able to make withdrawals. All the agent does in this case is to make the withdrawal requests on behalf of the farmers and cooperatives. The agent cannot do anything else than wait for Velociti to process these requests. Like Savings, withdrawals can be made for farmers and cooperatives.
To make requests for farmers, the agent clicks on VSLA > Withdrawals > Farmers. The agent first needs to search for the farmer they wish to request withdrawals for. They search using the farmer’s registered mobile number. If the farmer does not exist, a message should be displayed to the agent saying “Farmer does not exist. Only farmers with contributions can make withdrwals.” If the farmer exists the following non editable information about them is displayed:
The agent then enters the following details to request withdrawal.
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal amount | Yes | How much is the farmer requesting to withdraw. The numeric keyboard should be invoked when this field has focus. The withdrawal amount cannot be more than what the farmer has contributed. |
| Withdrawal date | Yes | When was the withdrawal request made |
The agent then clicks to go to a summary page showing:
The agent can from this screen either save the record or make changes. After saving the agent is taken back to the list of withdrawals for farmers. From this list the agent should be able to edit or delete records that are pending.
Clicking on VSLA > Withdrawals > Cooperatives should allow agents to view and request withdrawals for cooperatives. The first screen shows a list of the latest withdrawal requests for cooperatives in the region. This list should be searchable. Scrolling down the list should load more records if any exist. The agent should be able to create a new record from this screen.
To save a new record, the agent first searches for the name of the cooperative. If it does not exist the following message should be displayed. “Cooperative does not exist. Only cooperatives with contributions can make withdrawals”. If the cooperative exists, the following details are displayed:
The agent then enters the following details to make withdrawal request:
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal amount | Yes | How much is the farmer requesting to withdraw. The numeric keyboard should be invoked when this field has focus. The withdrawal amount cannot be more than what the cooperative has contributed. |
| Withdrawal date | Yes | When was the withdrawal request made |
The agent then clicks to go to a summary page showing:
The agent can from this screen either save the record or make changes. After saving the agent is taken back to the list of withdrawal requests for cooperatives. From this list the agent should be able to edit or delete records that are pending.
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