3RD EUROPEAN MICROFINANCE AWARD 2010

The 3rd European Microfinance Award "Value Chain Finance" focused on stimulating and promoting inclusive financial schemes that contribute to the evolution of value chains in developing countries.

A value chain is a vertical alliance between a number of independent enterprises, collaborating to achieve a more rewarding position in the market.

 

HARBU MICROFINANCE INSTITUTION - ETHIOPIA

WINNER

Founded in 2005, Harbu Microfinance Institution serves both rural and urban areas of Ethiopia.

The initiative presented for the 3rd European Microfinance Award focused on financing the soy bean value chain as response to market demand generated by a shortage of cow milk in Jimma city, zone of Oromia regional state. The initiative was built on the basis of strengthening horizontal linkages with farmer marketing organisations and vertical linkages with retailers and women's associations processing and producing soymilk. The initiative created market opportunities for producer farmers and employment opportunities for urban women and youth. Simultaneously it contributed to the improvement in the nutrition of families, especially children and women. Harbu provided financial services for most of the actors across the value chain starting from the individual producers to retailers. It provided seed capital and lease financing for the purchase of soymilk machines.

 

IDEPRO - BOLIVIA

FINALIST

IDEPRO – “Desarrollo Empresarial”, began its operations in 1991. Its mission is to improve the productivity and competitiveness of small producers, micro, small and medium companies in rural and urban areas by the means of specialised and comprehensive financial and non-financial services.

The initiative presented for the 3rd Microfinance focused on financing inclusive business in the quinoa chain in the Bolivian southern highlands. The support of the quinoa value chain in the region encouraged an economic activity, whose market potential, could be converted into a local alternative to migration. The main beneficiaries of the initiative were 271 quinoa farmer producers and providers for the four quinoa primary processing companies. These four companies based their activities on the collection of quinoa, which was then processed into "quinoa pearl", which was exported mainly to European and North American markets.

 

PARTNER MICROCREDIT FOUNDATION -
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

FINALIST

Partner Microcredit Foundation is a multi-ethnic organisation providing financial services to micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas with no access to commercial sources. The organisation's main role is to assist clients in starting and developing small businesses, with the objective of contributing to the country's healthy transition to a market economy.

The Rural Employment Generation Activity Initiative (REGA), presented for the 3rd European Microfinance Award, built public-private partnerships to promote the development and expansion of the fruit sector. The project provided both financial services and technical assistance and liaised with farmers, cooperatives and other market participants in charge of finding the market for product placing. Partner Microcredit Foundation in cooperation with USAID created a new loan for agriculture to provide financing for soft fruits cultivation.

For more information about the 2010 winner and finalists see the 3rd European Microfinance Award report from e-MFP.