Finance Microlending in Rural Afghanistan

Summary

CHF is one of the only agencies working to empower low-income families by providing microcredit loans averaging about $300—many to women—in Afghanistan’s rural areas.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

After years of war and conflict, Afghanistan remains a country in transition. One of the most critical factors impacting the nation’s economic recovery is limited access to financial services and capital for its people—particularly in the rural areas. For thousands of low-income rural men and women, the needs range from funding to build homes for the large numbers of refugees and displaced people, to opportunities to engage in income-generating activities for more settled groups.

How will this project solve this problem?

Since its launch in 2004, the program has issued loans to 3,200 clients, lending out more than $1.5 million. For the borrowers, this small loan can help increase income by 70%, making a significant difference in quality of life for the whole family.

Potential Long Term Impact

Consider: $1,000 can provide 3 people loans to develop their small businesses. Given the program’s repayment rate, that entire amount can be re-loaned to an additional 6 people in 3 years, generate more than $36,000 in extra income for poor families.

Project Message

The great challenge before us is to address the constraints that exclude people from full participation in the financial sector.
- Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources