MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haitian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fonkoze Releases 2009 Social Performance Report

Fonkoze, a microfinance institution established in Haiti in 1994, recently announced the release of its 2009 Social Performance Report, “Accompanying Our Clients Along the Staircase out of Poverty.” Fonkoze’s Social Performance Monitoring and Market Research Department collected data from client surveys, focus groups and program evaluations that indicates that clients who have worked with Fonkoze for a year or more have been able to improve their standard of living and increase their food security. Clients who participated in Fonkoze’s pilot program, Chemen Lavi Miyo, or “Pathway to Life,” demonstrated a 43 percent increase in sending “most or all” their children to school and a 50 percent increase in those cultivating their own food, showings signs of sustainability.

Fonkoze also carried out an evaluation of its Hurricane Loan program, which showed that, over the course of one year, the number of families that were considered to be “food insecure with hunger” had decreased by 17 percent. Using the Hurricane Loan program as a framework, Fonkoze also designed an earthquake response to improve the safety and stability of 19,000 of its clients affected by the earthquake that occurred here in January 2010. From this work, Fokonze will develop a permanent microinsurance product to protect clients and their assets in case of future natural calamities. This is the third annual Social Performance Report from Fonkoze [1].

About Fonkoze: Fonkoze is a microfinance institution (MFI) that was established in Haiti in 1994 with the mission of “building the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty” Fonkoze is comprised of three institutions: Fonkoze, Fonkoze Financial Services (FFS) and Fonkoze USA. FFS is a commercial MFI that expands the branches established by Fonkoze. Fonkoze USA channels financial and technical support to its Haitian partners. As of 2008, Fonkoze and FFS served 50,000 borrowers and had 100,000 depositors, making it the largest Haitian MFI listed on the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse. As of 2008, Fonkoze had a gross loan portfolio of USD 4 million; FFS has a gross loan portfolio of USD 8.2 million.

By Diana Baide, Research Assistant

Sources and Additional Sources

[1] Fokonze Press Release: Fonkoze Releases 2009 Social Performance Report http://www.fonkoze.org/innews/pressrelease/231-fonkoze-releases-2009-social-performance-report.html

MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Fonkoze: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Fonkoze

BBC News. “Haiti Earthquake.” July 21, 2010:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/americas/2010/haiti_earthquake/default.stm

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