MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), Financière agricole du Québec-Développement international (FADQDI) to Offer Agricultural Microinsurance, Training in Colombia

Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian nonprofit providing technical support and investment for the community finance sector in emerging economies, and Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI), a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote rural economic development, recently announced that they will launch a joint project with the aim of supporting the agricultural sector in Colombia. The project will include offering crop insurance, financial literacy programs and technical assistance for farmers.

The project will target individual farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate in the agricultural sector as well as financial institutions that offer agricultural financing. Participating financial institutions will include Coopcentral, Banco Agrario and Finagro. The goal of the five-year project is to reduce poverty in rural areas of Colombia.

The project will be backed by financial assistance from the government of Canada. The Desjardins Group, which includes DID, reported approximately USD 188 billion in assets as of 2013. FADQDI, on which budget data is unavailable, completed projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America as of 2014.

By Alíz Crowley, 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 emerging economies. It assists organizations in approximately 30 nations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. DID is a component of the Desjardins Group, a financial cooperative offering banking, insurance, securities and investment services, with approximately USD 188 billion in assets as of 2013. DID has three funds that provide loans and investment capital to microfinance institutions and funds specializing in microfinance: the Investment Fund for International Development (FONIDI), the Partnership Fund and the Guarantee Fund. DID also organizes the Proxfin network of 30 community finance institutions.

About Financière agricole du Québec-Développement international (FADQDI)

FADQDI is a Canadian nonprofit organization that promotes economic development in rural areas in emerging economies by proposing tools that are intended to facilitate access to credit and allow agricultural producers to manage risk. 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, and its subsidiaries and partners. This includes crop insurance, system financing and development and production cost studies. FADQDI completed projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America as of 2014. The size of the organization’s budget is unavailable.

About Proxfin

Proxfin is a network of 30 community finance institutions that is organized by Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian NGO. The members of the network collaborate “towards the dual objectives of financial performance and social impact.” To date, they have cooperated on projects including the design of insurance products in West Africa, debit and credit cards in Lithuania, creating an audit agency in the Philippines, marketing agricultural loans in Tanzania and the development of mobile transaction services in Mexico.

Sources and Additional Resources

[1] Développement international Desjardins (DID), DID and FADQDI combine efforts to develop the agricultural finance sector in Colombia

MicroCapital, December 17, 2014, Développement international Desjardins (DiD) Establishes Local Group Automating Microfinance Institution Operations in Senegal

MicroCapital, November 5, 2014, Développement International Desjardins (DiD) Loans $1m to Microfinance Institution Arnur of Kazakhstan

MicroCapital, October 22, 2014, Développement international Desjardins (DID), International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), Proxfin Members Endorse Draft Declaration on Food Security, Job Creation, Access to Healthcare

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Développement international Desjardins (DID)

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI)

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Proxfin

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/

Similar Posts: