Economic programs have roots in a set of economic activities are straightforwardly involved in Microfinance Program anyways. As a key tool of poverty alleviation, GRAMAUS started on the Microfinance Program designed for the underprivileged families in the company of the feature of collateral free financial services to utilize internal and external assets and opportunity, which tries to minimize the financial miseries and scale up the income and living stander in 1993.
The goal of the program is to include group-members in income generating activities, provide financial services, empower the women, and uproot poverty through increasing income and assets.
The Major Objectives of EIGP Program of Gramaus
- Development Unit Building (Samiti)
- Skill and Capacity Creation
- Income and Employment Generation
- Socioeconomic Enrichment and Empowerment
To effective the goal-centric objectives, the program pursues the methodology: organizing and inspiring people for development, increasing consciousness to alleviate superstitions and antisocial events, analyzing assets and economic opportunities of the families, providing financial inclusive services, training and technical supports to run income generating activities, motivating toward savings for enhancing assets and capacities, creating self and wage-employment and ensuring women empowerment and building up families and society without poverty through sustainable earnings. The momentous impacts and success of the program are pointed up below:
Development Unit Building (Samity)
Microfinance Program of GRAMAUS directly follows group-based approach to include people in the program and development activities. Every group (Samiti) is a unit of enrichment of the people, which facilitates development activities with potential initiatives of execution, mainly—the group mobilizes and organizes the people into male and female groups at the village, suburban and urban levels, develop leadership and managerial skills, make participation in economic and social activities, and promote group dynamism and amity.
The group-members are step by step enlightened about socioeconomic problems and opportunity, family assets analysis and utilization, capacity scrutiny, income generating activities, capital accumulation, credit proposal producing etcetera through the regular weekly meeting. After at least two weeks of inclusion, every member of the group can get credit in accordance with capacity and need. Credit is disbursed among them on agriculture (crop and vegetable, fishery, livestock and gardening), small and medium business, cottage and handicraft, direct services, transportation, house building, hotel and food business, overseas employment and so on are mentionable. As on 30 June 2023, total groups (samiti) under the microcredit program of the organization stood at 1687.
Savings Growth
Savings accumulates capital and assets can be a great help in the period of unexpected risk or disaster occurrence. To encourage the target-people to make a regular habit of depositing savings, GRAMAUS has been putting a variety of savings schemes into action illustrated below. As on 30 June 2023, the savings balance took the figure of Tk. 37.23 Crore, with the growth rate of 25.66 percent.
Credit Operation: Performance and Trend
To stay in income generating activities sustainably, capital availability is very vital. Supply of fund to the economic activities of the group-members regular-basis keeps them steady and lively in their venture, which, by degrees, augments the credit demand. GRAMAUS continuously disburses credits to the group-members in line with their need and capacity.
The credit products of the organization are casted into the nature and types designed from the consideration of socioeconomic conditions and feasibility of the target-people. The products are: Jagoron, Agrosar, Buniad, Sufolon, ENRICH, Of which, Buniad (for ultra-poor), Jagoron (for moderate poor and lower class) and Agrosor (for middle class and micro-entrepreneurs) are principal credits. A member can receive a special credit along with a principal one in line with his/her capacity and need.
Innovation and Microenterprise Promotion
GRAMAUS constantly patronizes the new-ideas and creativities of the group-members in economic activities, especially: new product, methodology, market, input and raw material sources in their income generating activities to boost up micro enterprises, which is considered as basic economic unit in the developing countries akin to Bangladesh. The organization, since the beginning of the undertaking economic development program, has been nourishing innovative group-members through providing them with financial services, technical supports, training, market-linkage, and the like to promote micro enterprises, which gradually turn into small and medium enterprises, in where wage-employment opportunity is extended and the total process gives the birth of a vibrant contribution to the national economy.
Product-wise Analyses and Discussion:
General Microcredit Loan (Jagoron):
Jagoron is a specialized microcredit program for rural and urban poor, has been implementing in association with PKSF aiming to improve livelihood status for rural and urban poor. Jagoron is a mechanism to make resources available for those who did not have access to resources from institutional sources such as the commercial banks. Its aiming to encourage income generating activities in the non-formal sector for poverty alleviation and empowering the disadvantaged women of rural and urban areas. In this initiative rural and urban poor women are the target group. Initially, Gramaus start this program in rural, now it expands among the urban poor women as well. As a result, women participation has been increased in urban areas in comparison to the rural areas under this project. Women, those who are involved with Jagaron are getting access to the local labor markets, increasing access to their material resources, and being empowered to taking part in the family due to their improvement of financial status.
The Jagoron microcredit activities has been operating aiming to make sustainable, poverty alleviation and empowering the disadvantaged group of the beneficiaries by engaging them with more income generating activities and to develop their fund accordingly. Usually, beneficiaries receive loan for animal husbandry, fisheries, petty business, small industries, weaving, home state gardening and so on.
Jagoron at a glance:
Total members: 20660
Total loan disbursed: 17923
Debt status: 45.12 Corer
Savings status: 48.22 Corer
Micro Enterprise Loan (Agrosor)
For sustainable poverty alleviation there is no alternative to develop Micro Enterprise – considering this theme, Gramaus has been running this activity in association with PKSF since 2005. All successful micro credit group members under the General Microcredit Activities, who are capable to proper use of the loan and have the opportunities to crate entrepreneurship are being consider here to be a member of the Micro Enterprise Loan. This loan size ranges from Tk. 30,000 to Tk. 1,000,000, repayable within one or two years by weekly /monthly installments. The purpose of this loan for various entrepreneurship, like- Fisheries, poultry firm, small rice mill, petty business, motor car business, etc. Getting loan under this scheme, respective members are running their business successfully and contributing significantly to local economic growth.
Agrosor at a glance:
Total members: 5424
Total loan disbursed: 4760
Debt status: 25.59 Corer
Savings status: 6.42 Corer
Agricultural Sector Loan (Shufolon)
This package has been designed for marginalized farmers, those who could not receive loan formally from the available financial institute due to long bureaucratic process. Gramaus starts this initiative in association with the PKSF and IFAD since 2005. Under these initiative farmers can involve their investment both in available agriculture and non-agriculture trades and even in any new business. Moreover, providing technical support for increasing agricultural products as well as to improve income generation are the main objective of this initiative. So, ultimately Sufolon is one of the weight-bearing secondary credit products of Gramaus that has been chalked out to support the target families involved in the agro-fisher-livestock activities as a subsidiary credit.
Shufolon at a glance:
Total members: 126
Total loan disbursed: 101
Debt status: 40.81 Lakh
Savings status: 4.41 lakh
Ultra-poor Credit (Buniad):
Buniad, one of the special credit products of Gramaus, designed for aboriginal and ultra-poor people those who lives at remote areas with less confidents and don’t have access to the traditional credit programs form available resources. Aiming to mobilize the credit facilities for them to develop their savings practice, so that can engage with different income generating activities as per their requirements. This program also helps them to develop their capacity in small trade activities through various training and orientations. This segment of the people does not have mentionable assets or income generating activities are mainly from the destitute families, but under the product the organization tries to bloom them up by means of the financial services, skill-training, capability-building and the others to run self-employment and gradually stir up toward the decent income generating livelihoods.
Buniad at a glance:
Total members: 4528
Total loan disbursed: 3543
Debt status: 7.25 Corer
Savings status: 2.32 Corer
Housing Loan:
Healthy and safe accommodation (housing) is one of the basic human rights, which is mostly neglected for the poor and ultra-poor people, especially in rural areas. This segment of people can’t afford to have a safe and health house for peaceful living in the community. Considering above, Gramaus introduce this loan scheme in association with the Bangladesh Bank and House Building Corporation for its microcredit members of Buniad and Jagoron. This program has been continuing since 2005. As per set design, we provide support to develop the specific designed (20” X 11” sqft.) tin shaded house for our beneficiaries.
Housing Loan acitivites at a glance:
Total members: 118
Total loan disbursed: 118
Debt status: 0.43 Crore