Ethiopia
2) How does A Glimmer of Hope’s program work?
The three key components of A Glimmer of Hope’s Income Creation programs are:
Micro-finance: Involves small loans, usually between $100 and $500, being made to individuals without any collateral at subsidized, low rates of interest and with an exceptionally high repayment rate. Microfinance is not new. Small loans have been used for around 30 years in developing countries. Today, it’s a billion dollar global business that it particularly developed and widespread in South America and Asia. It is generally underdeveloped in Africa, and in particular Ethiopia. Furthermore, loans tend to be made to urban dwellers rather than those living in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Micro-irrigation: Allows farmers to turn acres of rock and rubble into fields of green. It allows them the opportunity to better provide for their families and to sell surplus crops for cash in local markets. Small, low cost foot pumps and/or diesel pumps are used to draw water from nearby ponds, reservoirs, wells or rivers through open channels or drip kits onto the land being irrigated. Loans are also made to farmers for fertilizers and seeds.
Micro-enterprise: Refers to small businesses, from start-ups to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), with a particular interest those operated by women. The enterprises and borrowers that A Glimmer of Hope supports represent a wide array of businesses including: agriculture-based ventures such as pumps and kits for irrigation, cows for milk production, bees for honey, grain preparation and trading. Commercial ventures include baking, handicrafts, textiles, cooking stoves, shops, market stalls and transport services,
A Glimmer of Hope provides non-refundable loan capital to, and partners with, Ethiopian Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) who make and manage the loans and repayments. Additionally, it has established revolving funds with each of the MFIs so that when borrowers re-pay loans, the funds are made available to a subsequent group of borrowers.
It’s a hand up, not a hand out. It’s about Trade and Aid. Jobs and income. It’s about personal empowerment through financial empowerment.
