FAMA OPDF – Kiva’s Newest Field Partner in Honduras

Matt Raimondi, KF11

Familia y Medio Ambiente (FAMA OPDF) is Kiva’s newest Field Partner in Honduras. FAMA was started in the village of San Nicolás in the municipality of Juticalpa in the department of Olancho in 1990 with the implementation of two loan programs, education loans and sustainable agriculture loans. The first loans were for 50 Lempiras (Approx. $25USD in 1990).

FAMA has grown significantly from its humble beginnings and is now headquartered in Juticalpa, Olancho and operates 12 additional branches throughout Honduras, serving over 12,500 clients. Juticalpa is a small rural city with a population of ~100,000 and is the capital of the department of Olancho, Honduras’ largest department. Juticalpa serves as the commercial center for much of Olancho’s ranching and agricultural economy. Despite its size, Olancho’s population is only 500,000. The department is rarely visited by tourists and is known its forested mountain ranges and fertile agricultural plains. It is often referred to the Wild West of Honduras.

FAMA’s mission is to “provide quality and opportune financial services so that men and women have equal opportunities to develop their micro or small businesses, whether they focus on agriculture, manufacturing or services.”

FAMA plans to use Kiva funding to give more agricultural loans. Since this is a riskier loan product, other funders in microfinance will not provide capital for it, so Kiva will really help them provide loans that they otherwise could not provide. In addition, they hope to target Kiva loans to poorer clients and areas which are more difficult to serve.

To learn more about FAMA click here, to join FAMA’s lending team click here, to make loans to FAMA entrepreneurs click here.