Financial Inclusion: Roping the Informal Economy

Financial Inclusion is the backbone of extreme poor community. Developing economic growth, equity with justice for vulnerable groups and women require strong financial inclusion initiative along with introduction of mobile technology.
 

Financial Inclusion: Building a Better World

“We need innovative and sustainable financing models to help solve some of development's most vexing challenges”- AIPA Financial Inclusion Team

Women and farmers make better decisions not only for agriculture growth but also growth for nation’s economy.

AIPA understands importance of financial inclusion for poor and its reach through mobile technology. This initiative harnesses the power of technology, reaching remote communities, and developing knowledge sharing system.

Goal: Making financial inclusion as policy provision for the delivery of affordable and accessible financial services to disadvantaged and low-income populations.

Objectives:

• Making extreme poor with practical advice on formal banking, creating a habit of savings and growth through credit linkages
• Connect community with social protection provisions like pensions and insurance
• Provide a user-driven information service, boosting production and diversity of agriculture, livestock, small business, value chain and family security
• Over time, extend the reach and usage of mobile financial- advice

Approach:

Financial inclusion and mobile advisory services that AIPA provides together with partners have been embraced by thousands of small farmers, extreme poor women groups. Farmers and women groups view bank linkages through financial inclusion and mobile delivery of financial information as beneficial, as enabling them access to financial data, market information in order to improve their food security, livelihood, health expenses, government assistance and other networking support.

Farmers and extreme poor women groups lack knowledge on savings and investment and are often too late in accessing various financial benefits offered by government due to inadequate access to financial services.

AIPA and its partners have a strong desire to make extreme poor women and small farmers fully knowledgeable both on financial inclusion, its services and usage through mobile technology.

Impact:

Meet Anisha Maria Dora- Microcredit a hope

Anisha Maria Dora talks about her experience with the team of Golaberia Women Tea Partnership Program in Assam:

“My family and I have had many hopes for our family business: dreams we wove in our minds day in, day out; dreams and illusions that are represented in the blossoming leaves of our tea plants, which are the fruits of future harvests; dreams about future generations of the Maria family who one day will inherit our land.

It has been four years since we could harvest our tea leaves from small tea garden. The tops of the tea plants were so full with young green leaves, the branches were pulled down by their weight. Before right before the next harvest of tea leaves plucking, our hopes were destroyed. Natural calamity destroyed all our grown up tea trees to lose their leaves, no green leaves blossomed and no more harvesting of green tea leaves. That was the most difficult time of our lives: without any yield, with all our bare tea plants, without much hope. The only way to recover was to replant all our trees.

The AIPA team of agronomists, tea plant cultivation experts assisted us in planting new climate resistant varieties of tea plat siblings. Still, the first months after the disaster attack, were very difficult because we didn’t have the means to pay for the new plants. Thanks to a micro-credit scheme established at our farmer organization, we bought fertilizer to help the development of our tea trees. My family and I paid off the loan under the conditions we had agreed upon as a group, and thereby made it possible for fellow farmers to receive a micro-credit as well.

When our tea trees started to produce green leaves again, we had to sell all our green tea leaves as wet parchment. Again, the farmer organization I belong to supported me with a micro-credit. I bought the materials to build a tunnel drier and fellow member of the farmer organization lent me their man power.

Step by step, we keep moving forward. When people ask me why the micro-credit fund is so important, I say: It gave me the tools that have permitted my family to take our tea leaves production to the next level. It has been a great support in the construction of our family’s life project, it is a step by step process, and it is hope for the future.

Now I am the president of the women farmers’ organization and I can proudly say that all of us value and appreciate the micro-credit fund. After four years, it has grown thanks to members of the women farmers’ organization and those who have responsibly paid back their loans.”