Giving small farmers access to finance
In Mali, people living in rural areas face difficulties to access financial services. Indeed, fincancial institutions rarely cover these remote areas, and the traditional banking systems as well as some microfinance institutions are badly adapted to rural people’s needs.
The Kondo Jigima cooperative operates to meet the financial needs of small farmers.
A promising initiative for funding in rural areas
Created in 1996, Kondo Jigima is present in rural areas in many regions of Mali. It is a network of savings and credit banks that fund farmers’ organisations through various methods such as granting loans and collecting savings.
KONDO JIGIMA & SOS FAIM
Since 2017, SOS Faim has been supporting Kondo Jigima at different levels:
- Financial: provision of funds to increase credits
- Technical: reinforcement of the information and management system
- Institutional: development of actors' capacities
Results and future prospects
In areas where farmers’ organisations in partnership with SOS Faim are present, 136 farmers’ organisations, 4428 women and 1398 young people gained access to credit via Kondo Jigima in 2017.
In other areas, however, many difficulties persist. For this reason, the cooperative is considering additional support from the Control and Monitoring Unit for Decentralized Financial Systems of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mali.
In addition, Kondo Jigima wishes to strengthen its information and management system in order to meet the requirements of its supervisory authorities – the Central Bank of West African States and the Control and Supervision Unit for Decentralized Financial Systems of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mali.