Afghanistan CU project to expand with $27.7 million
MADISON, Wis. (10/25/06)--Two grants worth $27.7 million will help the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) expand its work in Afghanistan.
The Microfinance Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $8.3 million and $19.4 million in grant funds, respectively.
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| Farmers at the Balkh investment and finance cooperative (IFC) learn about cooperative group lending, which helps finance immediate agricultural needs for those who don't qualify for individual loans. |
The MISFA funds will help WOCCU start five more credit unions and continue its technical support to investment and finance cooperatives (IFCs) in Sheberghan and Maza-e-Shariff.
IFCs are financial cooperatives that abide by the requirements of Islamic law.
WOCCU will establish and support up to 20 IFCs and points of service in the northern, southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan with the USAID funds.
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| Members take part in an orientation meeting at Balkh IFC in northern Afghanistan. (Photos provided by World Council of Credit Unions) |
As agricultural profits have fallen, many Afghani farmers have turned to opium production. The three-year Agriculture, Rural Investment and Enterprise Strengthening (ARIES) program has a goal to return farmers to traditional agriculture with micro-enterprise and agricultural loans.
"Although there are multiple challenges to be faced--language, tribal loyalties, even the recent influx of anti-governmental forces--one still gets the sense that these are a people that are on the move toward a better future," said Randall Spears, Afghanistan project director, WOCCU. "We hope that this project will be one of those vehicles that will help drive them to that better future."
Almost 3,000 Afghanis belonged to the credit unions in Sheberghan and Mazar-e-Shariff by the end of 2005.
"The idea we've planted is still very new," said Edgar Comeros, deputy project director, WOCCU. "And because it's new, we need to nurture it, be there and be with them."
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