Helping Poor Farmers
December 8, 2008
Country: Nepal
Topics: Agriculture, Economic Development
Photo: Joni Kabana for Mercy Corps
In Nepal today, more than half the population has no access to even the most basic financial services. In rural areas, farming families are trapped in cycles of debt and are often forced to sell their crops at below market rates, further slipping into poverty. Even when financial services are available, the products rarely suit the unique needs of farmers.
Mercy Corps, with generous support from the Whole Planet Foundation, is teaming up with Nirdhan Utthan Bank, a Nepali-owned microfinance institution, to help farmers escape this vicious cycle by providing them with tailored financial products such as loans to help them escape debt and climb out of poverty.
With a grant of $312,000, Mercy Corps and Nirdhan Utthan Bank will distribute $3.5 million worth of loans to 10,000 poor farmers in eastern Nepal over the next three years. In addition to providing the farming community with desperately needed sources of credit, this program will serve as a successful financial model for providing financial services to remote, rural populations in Nepal and around the world.
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