AGRICULTURE FINANCE Innovation Fund For Eastern Indonesia

MICRA’s project was funded by Ford Foundation with the objective to support innovation in the agriculture sector through collaborating with financial institutions, organizations, corporations and small scale agriculture value chains. The project ran from August 2013  till June 2015, a total of 2,500  small scale farmer (SSF) beneficiaries. Project Achievements:

• Applying 4 financing schemes with the involvement of 8 Financial Institutions; direct financing, pre-harvest technology, financing, warehouse receipt.
• Total working capital loan of over IDR 600 million disbursed to SSF
• Warehouse finance and investment loan granted to cooperatives amounted to IDR 2 billion.

AMIDA

Academy for Microfinance Development in Asia (AMIDA) is an applied skills training workshop held annually by MICRA for microfinance practitioners from NGOs, corporations, policymakers, researchers and many more.

Over 690 national and international practitioners have attended allowing for an impressive forum to discuss and brainstorm about current microfinance issues with participants involved from all parts of the industry.

Global Best Practices On Sustainable Models For Pro Poor Rural Financial Services in Developing Countries (RuFBeP)

RuFBeP was created by Asia Pacific Rural and Agriculture Credit Association (APRACA) funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to identify any opportunities available in expanding access to rural financial services for low-income earners in five selected countries, including Indonesia.

The first phase of the program was completed in January 2015 and successfully identified three best-practices by microfinance institutions that could serve as an example for inclusive financial services. The second phase seeks to pilot these practices in selected environments, MICRA has been chosen as the official consultant to assist in this implementation throughout Indonesia.

IIME

International Indonesia’s Microfinance Exposure (IIME) is a microfinance exposure program that aims to broaden the knowledge of the microfinance industry to clients, specifically in Indonesia. The program is structured to be adjusted to the client’s needs and requests including field visits or class materials.

IIME assists in sharing and gaining comprehensive knowledge about problems, applied theories, and best practices in Indonesia’s microfinance industry.

POVERTY ACTION CENTER

The Indonesian microfinance sector is one of the largest in the world, encompassing over 50,000 institutions, including community banks, rural banks, cooperatives, and credit unions. Despite the scale, more than 40 million people still lack access to financial services, mainly in rural areas and urban slums.

The PAC program was initiated by MICRA foundation in order to build MFI outreach to the poor. PAC strongly believes that everyone, including those with low or no income, deserves access to financial services. At present, many of those people are not served by commercial banks and only a few microfinance institutions reach out to this market segment. A recent MICRA study revealed that only a third of 450 MFIs surveyed provide significant services to the poor.

In Indonesia, poverty remains a driving factor. The following figures illustrate this:

• Over 110 million people are living with income between US$1 and US$2 per day; another 17 million live on less than US$1 per day.
• Nearly 30 million elementary school children are suffering from moderate to severe anemia.
• There are 30 million unemployed people and 37% of the population was unemployed in 2006.
• As many as 38.5 million Indonesians are self-employed, comprising over 40% of those employed.
• Of more than 43 million micro and small enterprises in Indonesia, only less than 13% have access to commercial sources of finance.

As a program, PAC focuses on identifying, promoting and linking pro-poor MFIs to resources. The program is integrated and serves as a center for learning. It also acts as a center of activities for pro-poor MFIs to develop their outreach and effectiveness. PAC enables MFIs to receive access to various resources so that they can grow and share experiences. PAC also promotes pro-poor models to other MFIs interested in working on the microfinance market. Best practices and tools will be documented and disseminated through newsletters, websites, and conferences.

Managed by a team within MICRA, PAC fuses its resources with internal support from Mercy Corps to provide direct services to up to 500 pro-poor MFIs in the next five years. It will build market awareness among all MFIs about viable pro-poor products and approaches to increase overall service to the underserved market segments. Eventually, effective and sustainable MFI financial services are hoped to lift millions of Indonesians living in poverty.