Strategic Alliances for Financial Services and Market Linkages in Rural Areas, SEEP 2005-7
| Implementing agency(ies) | SEEP | |
|---|---|---|
| Funding agency(ies) | USAID | |
| Date completed | October 2005 | |
| Geographic setting(s) | Rural | |
| Target Group(s) | Farmers, Micro | |
| Issues/challenges | linking finance and BDS, rural finance, finance within value chains | |
| Contact person(s) | Ms. Lillian Villeda, Ms. Jennifer Hansel | |
| Country(ies) | India, Kenya, Paraguay, Peru, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan |
- Description
For What's New Visitors, the latest document is the PLP in Strategic Alliances Newsletter, "Rural Finance for Value Chains Quarterly" May 06 edition.
In the microfinance field, innovations are being tested and replicated to increase the access of rural clients to financial services on a sustainable basis. In the enterprise development/business development services (BDS) field, new approaches for facilitating market opportunities and linkages for rural enterprises and farmers in weak markets are beginning to emerge.
This round of SEEP's Practitioner Learning Program grants responds to the growing interest in reaching rural markets from both a microfinance and enterprise development perspective. By drawing lessons and expertise from these two technical areas, the strategic alliance project will explore different methods for facilitating financing for rural farmers and microentrepreneurs in order to upgrade in different value chains for rural products. The principal issue that the project will address is
whether strategic alliances and partnerships between rural financial institutions, market development facilitators, service providers, value-chain actors and micro and small enterprises (MSEs) can increase access to financial
services in rural areas.
The seven projects funded by PLP grants can be categorized into two groups. The first group is comprised of financial institutions that will form strategic alliances with a service provider or value-chain actor(s). As a
result of these alliances, the financial institution will directly provide financial services to rural MSEs and farmers. In some cases, the strategic alliance will enable a value-chain actor to provide better or improved financial services through established business relationships. The second group of projects is comprised of marketdevelopment facilitators that will assist other actors to improve rural access to financial services. In some cases, these facilitators will work with rural financial institutions
and value-chain actors to jointly develop suitable financial products that can leverage the value chain of local rural products. In other projects, they will work to stimulate a service market that supports financial institutions
in a comercial manner.
The main purpose of the paper below is to articulate the learning framework for the PLP project in greater detail. The available quarterly newsletters from the this PLP are also provided below. More information on the individual projects and the progress of this PLP can be found at the website above.
| Associated Activities and Documents | |
| Market Assessment | |
| » | Value Chain Analysis with a Financial Services Lens, EDA, India 06 |
| Synthesis Documents | |
| » | Rural and Agricultural Finance, USAID Resources (2007) |
Rural Finance for Value Chains Quarterly, May 06 (658 KB)