MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canadian Government Appoints Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Run FARM (Agricultural and Rural Financing) in Mali Project

The Canadian government recently appointed Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, to run the Agricultural and Rural Financing in Mali Project, which is also known by its French acronym FARM. 
FARM, which has a budget of CAN 18 million (USD 14 million) through 2020, is intended to develop the Malian agricultural sector to improve food security by increasing access to financial services such as loans and crop insurance and otherwise supporting agricultural producers and financial institutions. Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI), a Canadian nonprofit organisation promoting rural economic development in emerging economies, will assist with FARM, which will also involve Malian government ministries, financial institutions, insurance companies and the Professional Association of Decentralised Financial Systems (APSFD-Mali).

DiD is active on four continents and has two funds under management, with a combined budget of CAN 40 million (approximately USD 30 million) as of 2015, from which it provides capital and loans to microfinance institutions. DiD is a component of the Desjardins Group, a financial cooperative offering banking, insurance, securities and investment services, with approximately CAD 248 billion (approximately USD 197 billion) in assets as of December 2015. FADQDI is a nonprofit subsidiary of La Financière  agricole du Québec, a government-backed organisation that designs, develops and manages agricultural finance and insurance programmes.

By Imke Herholdt, Research Associate

About Développement International Desjardins (DiD)
Développement international Desjardins (DiD) is a Canadian nonprofit corporation that specializes in providing technical support and investment for the community finance sector in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. DiD is a component of the Desjardins Group, a financial cooperative offering banking, insurance, securities and investment services, with approximately CAD 248 billion (approximately USD 197 billion) in assets as of December 2015. DiD has two funds under management that provide loans and investment capital to microfinance institutions and funds specializing in microfinance. As of 2015, the two funds under management had a combined budget of CAN 40 million (approximately USD 30 million).

About Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI)
FADQDI is a Canadian nonprofit organization that promotes rural economic development in emerging economies by creating tools intended to facilitate access to credit and agricultural insurance. It was created in 2007 with the mission of sharing agricultural knowledge developed by La Financière agricole du Québec, a Canadian government program focused on agricultural development. The size of the organization’s budget is unavailable.

Sources and additional resources
[1] DID to structure rural finance in Mali
[2] MicroCapital Universe Profile: Développement international Desjardins (DiD)
[3] MicroCapital Universe Profile: Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI)
[4] Desjardins
[5] Développement International Desjardin
[6] FADQDI
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