28
Apr
It all started with a dream: to increase access to credit and contribute to securing the livelihoods of the rural poor in Uganda – mainly farmers. It was unfamiliar terrain. Typically, smallholder farmers lacked a credit history, and in the case of women, lacked both a credit history and acceptable forms of collateral such as land that could be used to secure a commercial loan from a bank. Where farmers could access informal loans, the money lenders charged them exorbitant interest rates. This discouraged farmers from using these loans to buy farm inputs such as quality seed that could