Continuing on with the Kiva project, REDROCK has added funds to the account and selected the Mbolea Group in Kenya for a $50 portion of it.
Here’s more information on the loan, and I’ll continue to post as the loan is repaid and other loans are initiated.
Gideon is the facilitator for Mbolea Group. He and his group members joined One Acre Fund in 2010. Gideon joined One Acre Fund in order to access good input prices, grow enough to feed his family, have profits for school fees, and have inputs delivered right to his village market.
With this loan, One Acre Fund will purchase fertilizer, seeds, and other important farming inputs to distribute to Gideon and his group during Kenya’s next planting season in February 2012. The distribution of farming inputs is part of One Acre Fund’s integrated agriculture package, which includes training, reliable input supply (such as fertilizer and seeds), credit and insurance.
In 2011, Gideon harvested 8 bags of maize on 1/2 acre of land. He describes his harvest as excellent. Prior to joining One Acre Fund, Gideon was harvesting 6 bags on 1/2 an acre.
With the profits from his harvest, Gideon plans on paying school fees, repairing his home, saving for the future, investing in livestock and perhaps investing in a business.
In 2012, Mbolea group will receive input loans for 9.5 acres of land. Each farmer will plant between 1/2 and 1 1/2 acres.
Additional information about this loan
Important Information About This Loan
With this loan, One Acre Fund will purchase fertilizer, seeds, and other important farming inputs to distribute to this farmer group during Kenya’s next planting season in February. This distribution of farming inputs is part of One Acre Fund’s integrated agriculture package, which includes training, reliable input supply (such as fertilizer and seeds), credit and insurance. Clients enroll between July and October for the following planting season, which begins in February. By purchasing inputs during these months, One Acre Fund is able to take advantage of the historically low farm input prices during this time of year in Kenya.
Members of One Acre Fund form groups in which each borrower guarantees the loans of all other borrowers in the group. One Acre Fund differs from a traditional microfinance institution, however, by allowing groups to split before the delivery of inputs at planting time. If a group were to split, each of the two new groups would have fewer members that could support a delinquency or default from a member. This may represent a different risk than that for a traditional MFI’s group loan.
Important Information About the Risk of One Acre Fund
One Acre Fund is not assigned a risk rating on Kiva. This is due to the fact that One Acre Fund’s business model differs enough from traditional microfinance models that Kiva’s current risk rating system is not applicable in accurately reflecting the risk assessment. Key risks and further information in making loans to One Acre Fund borrowers can be found on the organization’s partner page.
This is a Group Loan
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan, but is part of a group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and provides a system of peer pressure in repayments of loans. However, groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, the members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group member if someone is delinquent or defaults.
