In many rural areas where we work, small-scale farming is the main source of income and food for their families. The same goes for giving a family a flock of five or ten chickens. Let’s hear it for pig power! In a developing nation, giving someone the gift of a couple of pigs is handing them a small business opportunity with an ongoing-expandable-source of income and nutrition. Some of these group-oriented programs also put an emphasis on working together to invest in their communities, solve problems together, and to use some of their saved money to help community members in need. Through these programs, families can get the starting capital needed to launch or boost income-generating activities that will help them meet basic needs like health, food, and school fees for their children. providing grants to finance microenterprise businesses such as maize mills, bakeries, beekeeping, water bottling, fruit pulping, oil pressesĪll these things can begin to increase a family’s financial assets, improve their livelihoods or help them get through a family crisis such as unexpected medical bills.So, our microfinance programs provide opportunity for churches and individuals to get the boost that they need to take a step out of poverty. No-brainer: let’s help the church and community get a grinding mill so they can have a business-a reliable source of income generation-and the farmers who come to them for grinding can make a lot more income too. However, if they could grind that maize into flour, they could TRIPLE their profits. Scenario 2: We’re working with a church in a farming community where farmers have to sell their maize harvest for rock bottom prices. But if you lived off less than $1.90 a day, and already didn’t have enough food, and already couldn’t pay for your kids to go to school, saving $300 may be an insurmountable challenge because, as soon as you have a little money in your hand, you have to spend it on the next most urgent thing needed for survival. Scenario 1: For most of us in the Western world, if we needed to spend $300 to invest in growing our business, it wouldn’t be the end of the world-it’s a very, very small percent of our yearly income. “Microfinance” is big word that means “a little financial help can go a long way.” Here’s how that plays out:
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