A dedicated micro credit fund for rural Madagascar

A quick recapitulation of the microcredit contract outline:

• People have to form a group and raise the weaner or grower (older piglets which no longer drink milk from the sow) as a joint effort.
• The money needed to buy the gilt (or future mother sow), is provided by Zahana.
• All sows and piglets are the groups responsibility until each member of the group has their own piglet.
• Each sow will be “fatted up” and sold after having given birth to two litters of piglets.
• The loan for the gilt will be paid back to Zahana, once the sow is sold.
• Zahana provides the 'seed piglet money' as a revolving fund to the next group.

To date, we have been successfully working with the women's group in Fiarenana, and so far only women participated in our groups.

One women’s group, the most successful, had four piglets in the first litter in seven the second, making it a total of 11 piglets. Since these are more piglets than members they have been encouraged to give the “extra” piglets to the next group ready to start. This way the new group would not require to borrow any cash to start ‘their own’ pig microcredit project.

Two of the groups have reached the point where after two successful litters of piglets the mother sow will now be fattened up and sold. With the proceeds of the sale the initial investment lent to the women's group through Zahana’s microcredit project will be paid back. The remainder of the profit can be shared among the women.

A quick update from the field: Last time we reported that one out of the three initial pigs had died. Although the situation on the ground for the third group was not as bad as we thought. The moment it became obvious that the pig would not make it, it was slaughtered and the meat was sold. They were not able to recuperate all the costs for the pig, so the added some of their own money and bought a smaller new gilt. This replacement gilt is now pregnant, and with a few months delay the third group is catching up with the others.

Seeing the success of Fiarenana’s women’s group we have now more requests to join the pig raising microcredit project. One group, in Fiadanana is mixed and has man as members. The most interesting group is one of the soccer teams that would like to use the sale of the pig to pay for new uniforms and soccer balls. This is what we call the creative use of microcredit to make the soccer club truly self-sufficient and get a pig, too. 

Links:

• Raising smaller piglets to sell two months later
• The new Microcredit Project in Fiadanana