Developing rural entrepreneurship to combat poverty in Dien Bien Province

In the mountainous region of Dien Bien in Northern Vietnam, women farmers, very often from marginalized ethnic minorities, live in extremely precarious conditions. It was in this province that the Anh Chi Em microfinance program came into being in 2007, thanks to the French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde. AFD is supporting this action.

Copyright : Entrepreneurs du Monde

“I was able to buy twenty or so ducks…”

The NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde is implementing the Anh Chi Em project, either directly or in partnership with local entities. This microfinance program targets the poorest and most vulnerable families. The NGO offers customized and scalable financial services (loans, savings) and non-financial services (training, follow-up, awareness-raising) through this microcredit project.

In addition to the loans allocated to families for livestock farming and farming activities, the NGO supports local communities, particularly women, by giving them technical training and raising their awareness in terms of trade and how to keep a family budget. “With the loan, I was able to buy twenty or so ducks. The money I made when I sold them allowed me to start pig breeding”, remembers Ca Thi Pom, a woman from a village in Dien Bien Province.

In 2011, 3,700 families were supported by the program, an 86% increase compared to 2010. 2,000 loans have been allocated for an average amount of EUR 91. 14,400 people have attended training sessions.

An innovative microfinance program

The Anh Chi Em program has developed over the years with the aim of always better meeting needs. For example, Anh Chi Em now offers loans with different amounts and maturities in order to adapt to the economic cycles of activities. In addition, a team of trainers and social workers offer and provide support, as well as training for families.

Anh Chi Em is testing an innovative project for the future. It encourages participants to sort and sell their waste and put the money they earn on a savings account. Finally, the NGO is currently working on creating services that would allow farmers to organize themselves into interest groups or networks.

7,000 people expected to benefit from a microcredit

Anh Chi Em will be able to develop its activities and support some 7,000 people thanks to the program agreement with AFD. It will also allow it to considerably strengthen its institutional and financial visibility. In addition, this program agreement will scale up exchanges of experience between the organizations supported by Entrepreneurs du Monde in other countries (Benin, Burma, Cambodia, Haiti, India, the Philippinesµ...).

AFD started supporting Entrepreneurs du Monde back in 2009. It invested EUR 961,000 in this Anh Chi Em project between 2010 and 2011 and AFD more recently signed a 3-year program agreement. Under this program agreement, AFD is providing EUR 305,000 of further support to Entrepreneurs du Monde for a 3-year period (2012-2014).

AFD has already supported a dozen or so French NGOs in Vietnam

Some 150 non-governmental organizations from France have been operating in Vietnam for about twenty years now. French NGOs account for 10% of international NGOs working in Vietnam and cover a total of 63 towns and provinces. The operations of these NGOs cover a very wide range of activities, including education and vocational training, rural development, social integration, energy, health and microfinance.

Since 2008, AFD has financed a dozen or so projects led by French NGOs in Vietnam, for a total amount of over EUR 2m. These NGOs include internationally renowned NGOS (such as Handicap International and Entrepreneurs du Monde), as well as smaller NGOs with a more limited range of activities in Vietnam or Southeast Asia (such as digital gateways or Codev Viet Phap). French NGOs have taken account of the new realities of Vietnam – a middle-income country on the verge of becoming an emerging country – and of the constraints on access to financing and are tending to implement more and more innovative initiatives. AFD works to support these developments.

Source: AFD