El USDA concede 26,619 toneladas métricas de trigo para financiar un proyecto en Kenia

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently granted WOCCU 26,610 metric tons of wheat, equivalent to approximately US$4.6 million, to fund a four-year credit union development project in Kenya. Proceeds originating from the sale of wheat in Kenya will be used to fund programs that support sustainable rural and agricultural economic growth in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"This USDA project is a new model for WOCCU to pursue development through credit unions," Curtis Slover, WOCCU business development and technical services senior manager, said. "This is an integrated community development program driven through credit union development."

While many aid organizations focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, WOCCU's "Credit Union Modernization Program" will target households and communities already suffering from the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is greatly impacting human resources, loan delinquencies and credit risk in Kenyan savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs). Through the USDA funding, WOCCU will provide technical and financial assistance to two of the largest SACCOs in Kenya.

Project staff will assist the SACCOs in addressing the financial impact of HIV/AIDS at the credit union level and introduce and develop new products and services. WOCCU will help create individual educational development accounts— educational grants deposited into a child's savings account—to help families impacted by HIV/AIDS finance their dependents' education. Additionally, farmers will have access to agricultural and agribusiness loans as well as agricultural training to help build and support rural infrastructure.

WOCCU is currently implementing a program in Kenya to help the government develop regulatory and supervisory legislation for SACCOs and is also setting up an office in Nairobi to bring remittance services to Kenyan SACCOs.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.