Rabobank in business

Microfinancing is a broadly-based concept that encompasses loans, savings and insurance. Microcredits are used to finance a small amount of seed capital to people wishing to start their own small businesses. According to the highly successful microcredit system, savings are used to build up a buffer for handling any setbacks and microinsurance is employed to insure against major risks. Microfinancing has a proven track record of transforming people’s lives. It has enabled countless individuals to emerge from their disadvantaged situation to lead self-sufficient and fulfilling lives. The mutual respect and responsibility upon which microfinancing is founded is clearly reflected in the remarkable fact that ninety percent of all the loans are repaid. 

The support the Rabobank Foundation provides to farmers’ co-operatives is aimed at bringing about sustainable chain development in relation to a select number of specific products, namely coffee, cacao, fruit and cotton. The Rabobank Foundation actively encourages farmers to produce, process and distribute these products in a sustainable manner. All applications for assistance are consequently assessed according to criteria that include organic cultivation and processing, fair trade and social performance. This means the Rabobank Foundation looks closely at how an organisation treats its customers and employees, how it measures non-financial results and how it ensures its members and customers have a voice in its operations. 
 
The Rabobank Foundation has activities in 25 countries in South America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. These countries have been carefully selected on the basis of a number of core criteria. The Rabobank Foundation can choose to operate in a given country because it could at some stage become commercially attractive for the Rabobank Group, or because it is possible to optimally promote private initiative in the country through member organisations or simply because the Rabobank Foundation has a history of successful activities in the country. 
The selected 25 focus countries are:

Albania             India                Paraguay
Brazil               Indonesia          Peru
Cambodia         Kenya              Senegal
Cameroon        Laos                 Tanzania
Ecuador            Mexico              Uganda
Ethiopia            Mozambique      Vietnam
Ghana              Nicaragua          Zambia
Honduras          Philippines