A new SOFDEV (Solidarity Fund for Development) has just been created in the federation of tea producers in Rwegura in the Kayanza province in northwestern Burundi.
The effective creation of this SOFDEV was made during the General Assembly meeting of the members of the Akezakarigura cooperative which was held in April 2020, on the basis of the results of a study on the creation of this SOFDEV which was conducted with the support of Inades-Formation Burundi. The process of creation of this new SOFDEV had started with the establishment of a steering team, composed of some leaders of the Akezakarigura cooperative. This team’s mission was to draw up the regulatory texts that will govern the activities of this SOFDEV .
During this Constituent General Assembly, the founding members were then called upon to amend the regulatory texts, namely the Statutes, the Internal Regulations and the savings and credit policy. It was also the occasion to elect the members of the management bodies of this Fonsdev, namely the Executive Committee Bureau, the Credit Committee, the Supervisory Committee and the Awareness Committee. While respecting the representativeness by locality, the choice of the leaders members of the management bodies had to take into account their charisma but also their intellectual capacity especially for the members of the supervisory committee who are called upon to manipulate a lot of figures.
A view of the participants at the GA of the Akezakarigura cooperative
A new SOFDEV with a chance of success
The Akezakarigura cooperative of Rwegura gathers the tea producers, well structured, from the hill association to the federation which is at the level of the tea factory « the Rwegura Tea Complex ». This structuring facilitates the circulation of information and the follow-up of repayments in case of granting loans to members.
The cooperative has already started initiatives to grant credit among its members, which proves that the leaders are already accustomed to credit management. In effect, in this cooperative the members benefit from credits in the form of advances on the payment of their tea production, based on the quantity of tea leaves supplied to the factory. This practice limits the risks of non-repayment of credits, especially as the managers of the cooperative are involved in the payment work.
In addition, this new SOFDEV starts with a consistent capital compared to the other SOFDEV accompanied, which gives it an important power to give more credits to support the projects of its members.
In its accompaniment actions, Inades Formation Burundi focuses on capacity building support for the managers of this new SOFDEV on different themes according to the needs expressed so that they are up to their tasks.
SOFDEV to improve the living conditions of their members
Generally speaking, the members of these SOFDEV accompanied testify that the services they have received have enabled them to improve living conditions in their households. They consider the SOFDEV as a real alternative for financing their projects, especially for populations that were excluded by the traditional financial system.
At the end of 2019, the 5 SOFDEV accompanied by Inades-Formation Burundi totalled 7,992 members. They were able to grant 1,296 credits to members for this year 2019.
The new Rwegura SOFDEV becomes the sixth SOFDEV accompanied by Inades-Formation Burundi and the second initiated around the initiatives of tea producers after that of Buhoro created in 2015 in the province of Cibitoke.
Elected executive committee of the new Fonsdev
Communication Inades-Formation Burundi
