Access to microfinance in Africa

Extreme physical poverty in Africa multifaceted.

64 percent, more than 193 million people, live in extreme multidimensional poverty in Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania (MPI). On top of that, land degradation is worsening, reducing crop yields that sustain most of these countries’ nutrition and economic development. Burundi is the fourth most impoverished country in the world (MPI), and only 6.6% of Burundi’s forests remain, leaving the land nutrient poor and vulnerable to drought, floods, and mudslides (BOEP). More than 30% of northern Ethiopians are experiencing extreme hunger due to environmental degradation, conflict, poverty and drought (Oxfam). In the DRC, 87% of the rural population lives in extreme poverty, with conflict and deforestation being the two main drivers (MPI). In Tanzania, more women than men work in agriculture than men, yet women face inequitable access to land, labor, farming inputs, and finance (UNDP).

Program Activities

All Access members are helping Plant With Purpose work with 790 local churches across Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania to empower 61,450 farming households, about 360,000 people, with access to Christ-centered microfinance and regenerative agricultural training through 3,000 savings groups. This program will also continue their current restoration of 28 watersheds by planting over 4,804,000 trees around their farms, covering more than 5,000 square kilometers.

Expected Outputs and Outcomes

We expect these 61,450 families to experience a 37% increase in crop yields, a 24% increase in income source diversity and more than a 50% reduction in their multidimensional poverty levels by the end of the three year program. This program is expected to significantly reduce the multidimensional poverty level of beneficiaries in Bujumbura, Rutana, Makamba and Bururi provinces of Burundi, the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Uvira and Fizi regions in DRC and the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania by 2028.