Oikocredit

Patricia Hernandez, 32, built her own home with financing of USD 17,000 from our partner Habitat El Salvador. Now, she says, her children won’t be affected by frequent evictions – and she have a solid foundation to build a future for the entire family. For more than 15 years, we have been working with Hábitat para la Humanidad El Salvador, supporting home improvement loans to families with low incomes. The money has helped fund housing construction, expansion and improvement, including installing water and hygiene facilities.  Investing in affordable homes isn’t just about providing shelter. It creates a ripple effect that supports resilient, thriving communities.  “Housing financing is a trigger for family development, as it contributes to improving self-esteem, habitability, health, education, hygiene, and child development, among others,” he says Hábitat El Salvador’s Ernesto Tobar. The partnership has also trained more than 16,200 people trained in financial education. “Overall, a community-focused approach is a holistic approach that not only addresses immediate financial needs but also fosters long-term sustainable development and social cohesion,” says Oikocredit’s Humberto Ulloa. With affordable housing, we’re building stronger communities – it’s all in our Impact Report 2024. Read about how we’re making a difference: https://lnkd.in/ewij3csq 🏡 #AffordableHousing #SDG11 #CommunityDevelopment #BeTheChange 

🤝Partnership alert!    Farmers struggle to obtain the funds they need to grow their businesses. Oikocredit and @IDH have worked to ease the pain by providing loans to cooperatives and SMEs who work with smallholders.    Now, we’re taking a systemic approach to embed efficiency across the lending process with a view to closing the estimated $450bn smallholder finance faster.    A new agreement will see Oikocredit and the IDH Farmfit Fund combine expertise, align sourcing and investment strategies, as well as share risks and provide technical assistance as required.    We’re hoping systemic change can spark sustainable success for smallholders.     🌾🧑🌾 📈    #BeTheChange #FarmFinance #SDG2     https://lnkd.in/ek_z5iEB 

🌍💼 We're proud to share news of our new partnership with @Ailos in support of Brazil’s economic backbone: micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with help from Water.org    As part of the agreement, two Ailos affiliates, Acredicoop – Cooperativa Ailos and Evolua – Cooperativa Ailos receive $1 million to support SMEs in their portfolios.     Despite their critical role, Brazilian MSMEs face a massive financing gap, estimated at between $400 and $600 billion. By funding these businesses, we're not only helping them succeed but also contributing to broader economic stability and job creation.     The collaboration is the first step for Oikocredit and Ailos to build a robust working relationship and gather valuable experience for future ventures. 🌟    #SMEFunding #Brazil #BeTheChange  https://lnkd.in/exWaHpJf

📢Success story! Western Africa produces around half the global output of raw cashew nuts. But traders must rely on shelling units in Asia before the crop can reach consumers. Africa only accounts for a small percentage of shelling facilities, partly because of the prevalence of informal trade. We’re pleased to report that an innovative business monitoring tool has shown how the industry can be strengthened to help improve local cashew processing capacity. Trialled in Côte d'Ivoire, the Cash-flow let cashew flow tool integrates technical and financial information to provide a holistic view of business operations. Local cashew enterprises now have the insights they need to obtain business finance and expand their operations to process more of their crop locally.  Now the Association of Cashew Processors of Côte d'Ivoire (GIC-CI) has announced plans to publish materials and train cashew processors in the use of the tool, indicating its potential for driving growth and innovation across the sector. That’s sustainable growth in action! Get your fill here: https://lnkd.in/emhNzQEc 👩🌾🌍💸 Thanks to our partners CBI, Away4Africa, ECOCAJOU SA and CILAGRI-CAJOU.  #Africa #cashew #Cashflowletcashewflow #SME #SDGs 

🌟✏️ Project update! With our partner Opportunity International, we’re helping finance and build capacity at 15 financial institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We’ve already invested $20 million so far.  It’s part of an initiative to help 2.2 million children in 6,600 schools across low- and middle-income countries.  Together, we’re working to close the market gap for school improvement loans, and to bolster affordable schools with they finance they need to accept more children, offer more extracurricular opportunities and increase the quality of their services.  However, without sufficient financial and capacity support, they will not be able to meet this need. See how we’re helping create a brighter future for all kids, together with Ed Partners Africa. https://lnkd.in/enk4EZE5 💪🎒 #EdFinance #ImpactInvesting #BeTheChange 

🚀🌱 Change has been percolating through the coffee industry, thanks to Caravela Coffee. The Oikocredit partner works to bridge social disparities and enhance farm-level #sustainability, as is evident from its 2023 Impact Report. An Oikocredit #equity partner since 2019, Caravela is committed to responsible #coffee sourcing. The process goes beyond sustainable certifications and complex cup profiles, involving extensive, often unseen efforts across the supply chain to support people, enhance product quality, ensure performance, and protect the planet. That means fair buying, producer support, quality assurance, and risk-taking, with innovations at every level. It's just one of the reasons why we’re proud to be working with Caravela. 🌍📈 See how it’s leading the way in creating a better future for coffee communities in its impact report: https://lnkd.in/e9h3WEWy

👏This week, we’re celebrating our partner Cafédirect Group and its inspiring journey over the past year!   It’s been a challenging year in a challenging industry, but the brand is going from strength to strength, as CEO John Steel writes in his new progress report. The publication details its progress in tackling the issues in the coffee industry – the way it works with growers, treats the environment, influences business and supports its communities.  Cafédirect isn’t the highest selling Fairtrade coffee brand in the UK – it succeeds while paying coffee farmers and smallholders a fair price for their produce. For its Cafédirect brand, it paid 47% more than the Fairtrade Minimum Price for coffee.   Additionally, more than GBP 100,000 has been invested in smallholder farmers through Producers Direct, which is developing new technology that could uplift farmers globally.  Although the coffee industry is in need of major change, putting farmers first is the only sustainable way to do business, John says. We couldn’t agree more.   🤩  #Coffee #SustainableAgriculture #BeTheChange 

☕🧑🌾🌎 Did you know that your cup of coffee benefits entire communities? That’s the power of cooperatives, which help small coffee farmers grow and market their produce. In honour of the recent International Day of Cooperatives, we’re highlighting the work of COOPERATIVA FRONTERA SAN IGNACIO or COOPAFSI. A farmer may be able to grow superlative beans, but getting them to roasters and consumers requires an entirely different organisation. Cooperatives such as COOPAFSI help producers pool their resources to scale their businesses. Formed in 1968, the Oikocredit partner operates within the districts of La Coipa, Huarango, Tabaconas, and San Ignacio. The Peruvian cooperative comprises 16 committees and provides microfinance, social, and business services to its partners. It also covers a large number of needs that arise from technical agricultural training to community development and health funds. As a result, farmers such as Magdalena López Herrera from San Antonio de la Balsa now get a fair price for their coffee, as well as support with fertilizers, temporary workers at harvest time, and even technical assistance around crops, beekeeping, and climate change. “The cooperative supports us in many ways,” she says. “The practice on our coffee farm has changed. Before, we sold our coffee to the traders. Sometimes buyers came to the house to take it. But they didn't pay us the fair price like the cooperative does. They give us a better price that encourages us to continue growing coffee.” In the process, the entire local community reaps social and economic benefits. So, the next time you brew a cup of coffee, take a moment to appreciate the role of cooperatives and how they build a better future for us all. 👉Find out more about our impact in our most recent impact report: https://lnkd.in/eEKmzeS #Cooperatives #BeTheChange #Coops4SDGs #CoopsDay

🌊 Our new three-year #water, sanitation and hygiene collaboration with Water.org will address gaps in #WASH service provision for underserved communities, initially in #LatinAmerica.    That’s good news for communities challenged by low incomes, poor provision, droughts and #climatechange.    Starting in Brazil, Mexico and Peru, we’ll combine products, services, expertise and networks to develop affordable, viable and scalable solutions for communities in need. Water.org will lead with technical assistance, Oikocredit with debt capital.    👉 Take a look: https://lnkd.in/e299Ebaf #impactinvesting #sustainability #resilience       

📢🤝📈 We’re delighted to announce that small and medium enterprises in Indonesia will soon be able to access business capital more easily. That’s on the back of a loan of EUR 2.4 million to Validus, our new fintech partner in Southeast Asia.    Batumbu, Validus’ Indonesian subsidiary, will use the funds to expand its reach and support more local businesses.    SMEs are the backbone of many economies in Southeast Asia, but they have trouble finding funds to grow their business, partly because of data and risk issues.     IFC - International Finance Corporation puts Indonesia’s MSME financing gap at USD 234 billion.     See how we’re helping address the gap: https://lnkd.in/ehzAXJjY   #SMEFinance #Indonesia #BeTheChange #MSME