Mary Idi is from Tampul community in Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. She is married and has five children. Mary had no knowledge on how to increase her income and even if she did, the capacity to diversify to other businesses was something she did not have, and as such, when the little food they cultivated got exhausted, they could barely feed.

Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC), is a key component of the Caritas Nigeria sustainable livelihood strategy, which encourages households to cultivate the culture of saving, even from the little resources that they make as proceeds from their businesses.