'Achieving together, what would not be possible for the individual.'
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818–1888)
Summary
Rural poverty, environmental degradation and a rising population constitute the threats to communities in Africa.
This project seeks to mobilise and coordinate existing initiatives to form a rural innovation process and a Village Fund. The Village Fund will allow the population at community level to setup their own advocacy and innovation structures, as well as to obtain credits.[1]
The central idea is to use scientific knowledge and its transfer as an innovation-motor to setup businesses at village level. These businesses are primarily setup by Credit Associations, which generate savings to build up a local credit system. These credit systems will allow individual farmers to lend money for their activities. Interests paid for loans constantly build up the Village Fund. The Village Fund allows rural communities to also pay for services in support of the innovation process. The Village Fund will also feed the National Operational Fund of the Operational Framework to support the organisation of the project activities.
The project-concept is based on three pillars, i.e. services operating at the village level. These pillars are (1) Innovation (Knowledge & Innovation Support Service), (2) Science (Decision Support Service to design businesses) and a (3) Rural Credit Scheme (Agricultural Saving & Credit Association).
For more details please view the Project Concept.
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[1] „Achieving together, what would not be possible for the individual.” Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818–1888). At a local level, the situation in rural areas in Africa is comparable to the circumstances in Germany in 1866, when the mayor Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded credit unions, which spread over the country to finally overcome rural poverty. Raiffeisen’s concepts have thoroughly been integrated into the project-concept, according to which Rural Credit Associations generated their own savings and credit fund by setting up a business.