A Tico Welcome
5 October 2009 at 15:51 karlbaumgarten 8 comments
By Karl Baumgarten, KF9 Costa Rica
After a rainy welcome to San Isidro del General yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised by sunshine and smiles for my first day at FUDECOSUR, an MFI working in the impoverished districts of Southern Costa Rica. With my Spanish struggling but my effort appreciated, the staff welcomed the new face around the office that promised to bring more work to their already hectic schedules. FUDECOSUR is currently poised at an interesting time during their pilot partnership with Kiva. They are perhaps days away from posting their first loans to Kiva, geared up to use Kiva’s 0% capital to expand to new, more remote regions of southern Costa Rica.
In the past, Costa Rican MFIs have struggled to obtain commercial funding as many microfinance funds bypass Costa Rica, lending instead to MFIs located in countries more often associated with poverty. Still Costa Rica is not all white sand beaches and towering high-rise resorts. Much of the country still lives in poverty, especially those small-scale farmers reliant on the large plantations to provide their supplementary though transient income. Here village banks can help. FUDECOSUR sets up credit committees that dole out agriculture loans on a demand driven basis. As these committees have an intimate knowledge of market conditions on the ground, they are better prepared to assess risk and respond accordingly. It will be exciting to watch these village banks in action; tomorrow I will get my feet wet with a visit to one of these village banks where we will be performing the first borrower profile surveys.
As for an introduction, my name is Karl Baumgarten and I am a member of the ninth class of Kiva Fellows. I am humbled to be part of this diverse, passionate group and I look forward to keeping you updated with all the happenings in Costa Rican microfinance along with my Tica Kiva comrade in San Jose, Alana Solimeo. Look out for FUDECOSUR´s loans to be coming online this week and please join our lending team, Friends of FUDECOSUR to be updated when their first agricultural loans hit the site.
Entry filed under: Costa Rica, FUDECOSUR, KF9 (Kiva Fellows 9th Class). Tags: blogsherpa, Costa Rica, FUDECOSUR, KF9, Kiva, microfinance.
1. buscar pareja | 7 November 2009 at 21:45
I guess never say never, huh?
2. Jillian | 9 October 2009 at 07:41
Noted your reply of 6 October. I look forward to the 12-month loans you speak of, but was a touch disappointed to find your first loan was a 38-monther, like EDESA. I must be patient, of course.
Saludos, Jillian (also NOT an Allstar!)
3. Jan & John, KivaFriends | 6 October 2009 at 14:53
Karl, we’re not even close to being All-Stars… but we do admit to being ‘addicts’…
jan
And we like those end-of-term loans… think they benefit the farmers best.
So ‘keep on trucking’ – we’re the people need food
4. Julie P | 6 October 2009 at 11:54
Good to see you arrived safely Karl! Now go eat some pico de gallo!
5. EarthMomma | 6 October 2009 at 07:23
Lovely post Karl! Having fun following you from NC, can’t wait to begin posting from Nairobi! Go Kiva Fellows!
6. Karl | 6 October 2009 at 07:02
Jan and Jon
Ive been reading this blog for some time now, wondering what it would feel like to have two Kiva Allstars post on one of my blog posts. Let me tell you, it feels fantastic. Your commitment and passion for Kiva is truly commendable.
And Jillian, many of the loans that will be posted are bullet loans, that is a 12 month loan where farmers do not pay any principle until after the harvest. While you wont be receiving small repayments on a monthly basis, you will receive all your principle back in one lump sum after the loan term. If this doesn’t suit your lending style, we are going to try to post different loans products as well which have more consistent repayment schedules.
Thanks
7. Jillian | 6 October 2009 at 04:35
I will surely participate in your loans. However, I have been discouraged from lending to EDESA because almost their loans are for 38 months – too long for me. I hope you can offer loans more in the 12/15/18 month range. Best wishes for your success, Jillian
8. Jan & John, KivaFriends | 5 October 2009 at 20:55
Looking forward to your posts. The Agriculture team at KivaFriends is always ready to help people who grow food. We’ll be watching… jan