Popanças rurais em Moçambique: tamanhos finalidades e descrição de estratégias para sua mobilização: o caso do distrito de Boane

Abstract

Mozambique is essentially an agricultural country, with around 85% of its population living in the countryside; the vast majority live below the absolute poverty line, dedicating themselves to subsistence agriculture, whose incomes are low, uncertain and seasonal, which inhibits the mobilization of savings in rural areas. Although some economic literature argues that poor households in rural areas do not save, and that even if they have an additional income they spend it on consumption or ceremonial entertainment, studies show that these families do have a substantial capacity to save. However, the ways in which these savings translate, as well as the income that is destined for consumption, are largely influenced by interest rate policies, transaction costs, credibility of institutions, varieties of deposit options, among other factors . The economic literature reserves savings a fundamental role in the development of the economy, as it is considered to generate investment, future consumption, social well-being and to be the guarantor of stability during old age. In this context, it is important to adopt strategies for mobilizing savings in rural areas. The main objective of this work is to contribute to the definition of strategies for mobilizing rural savings appropriate to the rural environment, taking into account the needs, habits, customs and motivations of the rural population, as well as the dimension of rural savings. Thus, based on the field study, two main issues were studied, with an emphasis on gender, namely: 1. Level of savings in the district of Boane; 2. The purpose of savings in this district. Before that, however, the theoretical debate on the issue of mobilizing savings in rural areas was presented, and then the situation of Mozambique with regard to the microfinance industry was addressed. The work is organized in ten chapters. The 1st refers to the potential for rural savings; the second addresses the impact of interest rates on the mobilization of savings; o 3rd the mobilization of rural savings; the 4th addresses the mobilization of savings by MFIs; the 5th gives an overview of the Mozambican financial sector; the 6th refers to the demand for financial products vs their nature; the 7th refers to the offer of Microfinance products; the 8th concerns the government policy and legal situation of microfinance in Mozambique, the 9th concerns the case study and the 10th and final recommendations are presented.