RURAL AGRICULTURAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION.

The specific problem is related to the lack of means. Our association, which helps children in difficulty (children who leave their homes to live on the streets, the orphans of one parent or of all the parents who live with guardian families, children from poor families) who are educated or not find themselves without means to achieve their self-development. In Burundi, rural populations have limited access to financial services. To start agricultural or non-agricultural activities, they often have no choice but to borrow from traders and loan sharks who can charge excessive interest rates of up to 10%, while many 'among them are very vulnerable.

Our solution concerns access to agricultural financial inclusion and is limited to the empowerment of vulnerable rural populations through individual and collective income-generating activities to have additional income for agricultural and non-agricultural production, to the awareness of populations to form community savings and credit groups, sensitization of the rural population through sensitization and capacity building to improve their lives as well as the establishment of mutual pooling systems. Trust, collaboration between different agricultural economic growth actors through community dialogue using the Community Scorecard tool where service providers, service recipients and other stakeholders meet to discuss the state of satisfaction and the prospect of improving the state of life. The solution will make financial services more easily accessible in rural areas where demand currently exceeds supply and will benefit 99,200 smallholder farmers.

The solution aims to strengthen the financial inclusion of the population living in agricultural and non-agricultural rural areas, in particular that of the most vulnerable small producers, single mothers, guardians of orphans, orphan heads of households, people motor disabilities. this will contribute to a sustainable reduction of poverty in the 4 communes of the province of Gitega in Burundi. Also, with the empowerment of vulnerable populations and access to economic growth, the reduction of the phenomenon of the mass departure of children whose families live in a precarious situation; Miserable conditions that sometimes force children to leave their family nest to seek work in neighboring urban centers, either as servants (servants, cooks, street vendors, etc.), and there are many of them. Among them, some live on the streets where they are exposed to many dangers. Today, many children between the ages of 10 and 15 do paid or unpaid work and are on the streets, especially in the capital and in the city centers of the country. This urban agglomeration involves all kinds of risks: drugs, delinquency, labor exploitation, sexual exploitation,... The solution will contribute to considerably reducing this scourge and will improve the stabilization of children in their respective families as well as the reduction of abandonment. school by vulnerable children.

Our association has the experience of working with grassroots communities in the reintegration of street children, in the establishment and supervision of children's rights in certain elementary and post-elementary schools, in the place of implementation and supervising sports teams for women and the disabled. It works in close collaboration with the local and school administration as well as with religious denominations. In the diagnosis of community needs, ACAED goes to the field to collect data, identify beneficiaries in the implementation and in the participatory evaluation of the impact generated and the achievement of results. By presenting the achievements, impact effects and challenges encountered at the end of the project, it is possible to assess what remains to be done.

Currently, our solution is not before the courts, but in the event that the means are available, the solution will concern 4 most disadvantaged municipalities in the province of Gitega and will have as beneficiaries: 

a) 10,000 people will be direct beneficiaries and will be members of community savings and loan groups. 

b) 60,000 people will be indirect beneficiaries and will benefit from members of community savings and loans groups. 

c) 200 hill council members will participate in community groups and household economic recovery. 

d) 80 agronomists will be strengthened on the role of working with vulnerable people.

We applied for Solve, because we would like to be their partner, because seeing their achievements through their different partners, we found that their areas of intervention are identical to ours. In addition, based on the lobbying and advocacy evidence that will be identified, further well-documented actions will be forwarded to solutions for other interventions aside from financial support.

The solution adopts a holistic approach aimed at ensuring access to financial and non-financial services, diversified, in favor of a wide range of potential pro-poor agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises that could emerge in the areas of intervention of the solution in Burundi. It aligns with Strategic Objectives 2 and 3 of the 2016-2020 COSOP, respectively, to "develop value chains through the structuring of producer organizations, inducing economic growth while increasing resilience to climate change" and “strengthen the involvement of vulnerable groups in economic dynamics in general”. This approach integrates the following key elements: i) provision of financial and non-financial services in favor of the target groups of the solution; (ii) financing of agricultural and non-agricultural micro-projects in the rural sector; iii) targeting in the areas of intervention of the solution, taking into account all the actors. (individuals, groups, companies, etc.)

Description of components
Component 1: Contribute to the operationalization of the financial inclusion strategy
Component 1 aims to promote an environment conducive to real financial inclusion of the target rural populations.
Component 2: Strengthen the supply of financial services in rural areas to better meet the needs of targeted populations
Component 2 aims to increase the rate of financial inclusion in rural areas (agricultural and non-agricultural), through capacity building of MFIs, the most vulnerable populations and micro-enterprises. It is divided into three sub-components: i) sub-component 2.1 on improving financial inclusion through the financing of small farmers, which includes building the technical and material capacities of MFIs to better meet the needs of small producers and breeders and their cooperatives, an increase in the financial credibility of cooperatives, the provision of credit lines to more fully meet the needs of small producers and breeders and finally the development of value chain financing; ii) sub-component 2.2 relating to the financing of “IGA5, non-agricultural households” and young micro-entrepreneurs which also involves building the technical and material capacities of MFIs to work with this target group and the provision of lines credit to more fully meet the needs of small producers, livestock breeders and non-agricultural micro-entrepreneurs; iii) sub-component 2.3 on financing the most vulnerable, particularly through a progression model.

Overall objective: the solution has the overall objective of contributing to the sustainable reduction of poverty in Burundi.

Development objective: the development objective of our solution is to strengthen the financial inclusion of rural populations (producers, POs, the most vulnerable including women, young people and micro-entrepreneurs), agricultural and non-agricultural , bridging the gaps between demand and supply of financial and non-financial services.
The development indicators are: (i) 99,200 rural households see their income increase from FBU 3,300 to FBU 3,900 thanks to regular access to MFI credit and savings services; (ii) 2,500 highly vulnerable households are financially and economically included; iii) more than 80% of agricultural and rural operators have become credible and reliable "customers" for the MFIs (they regularly refinance themselves with banks); and (iv) the structuring of the subsectors is strengthened thanks to more fluid financing of its various links.

The solution will support the development of the new strategy, in particular to promote better financial inclusion of the rural populations it targets. This will consist of: i) the mid-term evaluation of the NFIS (rural financial inclusion part); ii) the capitalization of ACAED's financial experiences; iii) the final evaluation of the NFIS (rural financial inclusion part); And

iv) development of the new strategy (rural financial inclusion part) and environmental safeguard
Methods of implementation. The mid-term evaluation of the SNIF solution will be carried out after two and a half years of implementation. It will require the recruitment of a consultant for a period of one month. It will certainly coincide with the first year of implementation of the solution.
The mid-term evaluation of the SNIF will be followed by the capitalization of ACAED's experiences in rural finance in year 2. It will also be carried out by a consultant over a period of one month.
The final evaluation of the SNIF as well as the development of the new SNIF will be carried out in the last year of implementation of the SNIF. Each of its activities will be carried out by a consultant over a period of one month. The intervention of a consultant specializing in environmental safeguard issues is also planned so that these issues are now included in SNIF 2023-28 as well as the list of non-eligibility for credits for activities harmful to the environment.
Expected effects. Two effects are expected: i) the 2023-2028 NFIS has been evaluated (mid-term and final); and ii) at the end of 2028, a new NFIS is drawn up.

La solution Contribue à la réduction durable de la pauvreté dans les 4 communes de la province de Gitega au Burundi. Il améliore la réduction du nombre de ruraux vivant en dessous de 3 000 BIF par jour et par personne. Cela sera prouvé par une étude de base par le biais de rapports d’impact, d’un examen à mi-parcours, d’un rapport d’achèvement et d’une fin de solution. La solution renforce l’inclusion financière des populations rurales (producteurs, OP, les plus vulnérables dont les femmes, les jeunes et les micro-entrepreneurs), agricoles et non agricoles, en comblant les écarts entre l’offre et la demande de services financiers et non financiers. L’augmentation du revenu des bénéficiaires est observée par rapport à un taux de référence de 3 000 BIF par jour et par personne. Ce montant passera de 3 300 BIF à moyen terme à 3 900 BIF au cours de la période d’achèvement, selon le rapport d’étude d’impact examiné à mi-parcours et à la fin de la solution.