Contribution to green micro-entrepreneurship

Partnership
Initiative

Background

The Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Perú (National Federation of Peruvian Savings and Credit Cooperatives - Fenacrep) is responsible for providing technical assistance to its affiliated savings and credit cooperatives to improve the financial services they offer, incorporating strategies and tools to reach a greater number of beneficiaries with inclusive and innovative products that promote sustainable economic development. It has a long history of cooperation with Sustinentes and Osel, both Italian companies with an extensive track record in designing financial products and sustainable finance training programmes, as well as advising cooperative service providers on their transition to sustainable products.

The Fundación para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades del Sur (Foundation for the Development of Southern Communities - Fudecosur) in Costa Rica, works to promote economic and social development in the southern region of Costa Rica, offering micro-finance support and complementary services to family farming households with scarce resources.

These four entities share values and principles which, thanks to the coordination by Fenacrep, have led to the creation of a Triangular Cooperation Partnership that aims to harness the expertise of each one to generate tools in support of rural micro-entrepreneurship, with a focus on gender and sustainability. Not only can this be applied in rural areas in northern Peru, it can also be studied and adapted to other Latin American and Caribbean territories.

Entities and roles

Beneficiary entities

Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Perú - FENACREP

Peru

First provider entities

Fundación para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades del Sur - FUDECOSUR

Costa Rica

Second provider entities

Osel

Italy

Sustinentes

Italy

Development challenges

Financial autonomy is one of the most significant barriers to women's economic, social and emotional development. There is consistent data on the gaps in income between men and women, which are more significant in rural areas, where access to credit is scarcer than in urban areas due to the lack of supply of financial products, lack of technical assistance and training.

Thanks to this Triangular Cooperation Initiative, the knowledge and experience of the Partnership member entities will be harnessed to develop a training protocol for rural micro-entrepreneurs and credit cooperative counselors, as well as to increase the provision of inclusive and sustainable financial products, in order to increase women's access to credit in northern Peru.

This Triangular Cooperation Initiative aims to share the knowledge of the Partnership entities to design and implement green finance tools that contribute to the growth of micro-entrepreneurs, with a focus on inclusion and sustainability.

Triangular approach

The efficient and sustainable development of rural women's micro-enterprises calls for a bottom-up approach, where the beneficiaries' capacities are first strengthened to take ownership of the principles of sustainability, and learn how these play in their favour in the medium- and long-term. It also involves equipping the financial services entities with the right tools to offer more and better products that meet these criteria. This Initiative is based on maximising the experience and know-how of the Partnership member entities to jointly support the direct beneficiaries and, at the same time, undergo capacity building in the process.

To this end, the experience of Fudecosur, which participated in the Rural Finance and Environment programme led by the Central American and Caribbean Microfinance Network (REDCAMIF), will be used to develop inclusive and innovative financial services that improve services for the rural sector. Its attempt to increase the productivity and income of small producers, generate social impact through the quality of life of their families, and to do so with a focus on environmental protection and adaptation to climate change has attracted the interest of Fenacrep, which seeks to take the lead in the services it offers to its affiliated cooperatives. Furthermore, the scope of action of Fudecosur in Costa Rica and Fenacrep in northern Peru is similar in terms of climate, economic and social factors, which allows the case study to be broken down into highly adaptable and replicable components.

The case study will benefit from the experience in Italian cooperative credit, provided by Sustinentes and Osel, in addition to their experience in developing training content focused on the sustainable management of enterprises. All of this will contribute to the creation of a financial product aimed at micro-enterprises, centered on social inclusion and environmental sustainability. The goal is for this product to be rapidly applied by credit unions in northern Peru, while at same time allowing for it to be studied and adapted to other Latin American contexts and territories.

Sectoral approach - Contribution to the 2030 Agenda

Primary SDG

Goal 8.4 Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead

Goal 8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

Secondary SDG

Goal 5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life

ADELANTE SDG

Goal 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Goal 17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation

Territorial approach

Intervention methodology

The work plan of this Initiative is based on nine activities, carried out in the form of courses, workshops, studies, congresses, study visits and consultancies, which will facilitate the collection of raw data through case studies, context analysis and gap studies. A training programme will also be developed for the direct beneficiaries and a financial product will be designed, adapted to the challenges and opportunities of the territory.

The Initiative will kick off with a study that aims to identify the social and environmental sustainability gaps in the agricultural sector and in rural areas of northern Peru. This study will be an essential input for the development of a sustainable business management course, with the participation of 60 women micro-entrepreneurs, who will gain knowledge on starting or improving their business as well as how to manage a financial loan. In addition, the course will include modules aimed at those affiliated with Fenacrep's member savings and credit cooperatives, with a gender-based approach and environmental awareness.

In parallel to the course, two study visits will take place: an initial visit to Costa Rica, where Fudecosur's experience in credit schemes for productive activities with a gender lens will be presented, and the first steps will be taken towards designing the financial product.

The second study visit will take place in northern Peru, where the Partnership member entities will learn first-hand about the context of the target area and the women entrepreneurs there. Work will also continue on the design of the financial product.

The work carried out by the Partnership member entities will be supported by two consultancies, which will contribute, on the one hand, to the analysis of environmental sustainability practices, and on the other hand, to the development of a toolbox to launch the financial product.

A second study aims to support the systematisation of the knowledge generated throughout the Initiative, contributing to the design of the financial product. This study will be accompanied by a face-to-face workshop, where counselors from savings and credit cooperatives will be trained in the use of the new financial product.

The Initiative will close with a congress in northern Peru, where the outcomes will be shared, including the financial product. The event will be attended not only by the Partnership member entities, but also by the women micro-entrepreneurs who have benefited from the course, providing them with a forum to share their insights and present their ventures.

Direct beneficiaries (individuals)

According to Rule 9 of the Guidelines for Applicants: all persons participating in the activities of the Initiative.

This Triangular Cooperation Initiative has approximately 100 direct beneficiaries, of whom 60 are women from rural areas in northern Peru, who will participate in the training cycle on sustainable micro-entrepreneurship and access to credit. In addition, at least 16 credit counselors affiliated with the savings and credit cooperatives in northern Peru will benefit from the training modules and the workshop on the use of the financial products.

On the other hand, approximately 25 people affiliated with the Partnership member entities will benefit from participating in the activities.

Budget

EU contribution: 98,095.81 €

Co-financing - Triangular Cooperation Partnership: 32,433.00 €

Total budget: 130,528.81 €

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