Contribution of Savings and Credit Co-operatives Societies Services on Members’ Household Income-poverty Reduction in Rural Tanzania: A Case of Selected SACCOS in Moshi Rural District, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

This paper adopts a cross sectional research design to assess the contribution of SACCO’s services on members’ income-poverty reduction in Moshi rural district with emphasis on savings, credits and training services. To achieve the objective of the study, three SACCOS in Moshi rural district were selected with a total of 175 respondents using Cochran’s (1977) formula. An open ended questionnaire was distributed to each member and the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression model. Findings revealed that, services especially small credit services offered by SACCOS have higher contribution on household income-poverty reduction, members benefit from SACCO’s services in several ways including: meeting household expenditure, enhancing business establishment, financing agricultural activities. However, trainings are rarely provided by SACCOS on proper utilization of the credits provided to members. The study recommends that, SACCOS should offer services in respect of members need which help members to access financial services and reduce income-poverty.