USAID's rural Afghanistan project aims for 50 new CUs

KABUL, Afghanistan (10/17/06)--A new project financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), working with the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and other partners, aims to establish a minimum of 50 new rural credit unions and farmer cooperatives within three years in Afghanistan.

USAID and its partners will invest $80 million to be distributed over three years for the Agriculture Rural Investment and Enterprise Strengthening (ARIES) project. ARIES will be the largest rural finance program the agency has supported to date in Afghanistan.

The goal of the project is to provide legal economic opportunities for people who in rural areas. Afghanistan leads the world as a producer of poppies for heroin.

At the end of three years, the project hopes to have delivered financing to 60,000 new micro-finance clients, established at least 50 new rural credit unions and farmer cooperatives, and created financing for small and medium-scale enterprises in rural communities.

The prime partner implementing the project is the Academy for Educational Development. It will partner with WOCCU, ACDI/VOCA, the Foundation for International Community Assistance, Shorebank International and the Microfinance Investment Support Facility to develop the program.

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