Social Issue

Rural families in Myanmar often lack any form of financial inclusion. They are the last market to be served by microfinance institutions and banks as their loan sizes are small and their income streams seasonal.

This means it is hard for them to take out a loan to invest in their farming activities which makes it hard for them to improve their productivity.

Our Response

The Fundación Netri is supporting Proximity Finance as it addresses this critical funding gap by providing Myanmar’s smallholder farmers with the credit and services they need to improve their productivity.

Proximity Finance (Proximity) is a microfinance company that was created by Proximity Finance, a social enterprise that designs products and services to improve the livelihoods of underserved rural families in Myanmar. Proximity is the only fully integrated player for agricultural microfinance in Myanmar, serving smallholder farmers with access to finance, technology, and knowledge.

Their client centric approach has allowed for their crop loans to meet the diverse needs of farmers across Myanmar, from rice farmers in the  Ayeyarwady Delta to farmers in the Dry zones and Shan hills who grow a wide variety of crops.

Their loans are designed to meet the diverse needs of farmers and are designed around the planting cycle of each crop so that farmers receive the money ahead of the planting season and repay is concentrated at harvest time.

Expected Social Impact

With this investment of the Netri Foundation, it is estimated that Proximity Finance will be able to provide over 2,600 microloans, with the aim of enhancing farming families livelihoods and quality of life.