Blog posts from Oikocredit UK
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One family's entrepreneurial journey out of poverty using social impact investing
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One in four of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas, often relying on a few staple crops to meet their daily needs and generate a small income. They are also more likely to be affected by climate change since many scientists believe it to be responsible for the unpredictable, extreme droughts and rains that destroy harvests and lives. Since these rural communities have limited access to finance and technical support to build their smallholdings and create greater resilience, they rarely attain the economic empowerment they need to break free from the poverty cycle.
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International Women’s Day and the potency of gender lens impact investing
Read more Read moreFrom financial exclusion, to tiny shop, to multiple businesses
Written by: Blanca Méndez, Oikocredit International
The Philippines 2017. Teresa Tomaro, “Dungganon” group member of the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation; and Blanca Méndez from Oikocredit International. Photograph: Nicolas Villaume.
Caroline Mulwa, Oikocredit Kenya Country Manager, speaking about East African women at the 2016 Africa Impact Investing Leaders Forum, highlighted that: “88% of Africa’s female population live in rural areas; 70% of agricultural labour is provided by women; 90% of all food is produced by women, but women own less than 2% of the land. Yet women have a significant, measurable, positive impact on small business ventures, local communities and families. And they have been proven to reduce investment risks, which is why Oikocredit lends much of its institutional and individual investors’ capital to social enterprises that support women”.