When Microfinance Gets Involved with SMEs: Experience with Cooperatives of Producers

This publication presents three case studies of agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia, Mali and Senegal demonstrating the “win-win” model for the parties involved. The paper argues that working with cooperatives enables a finance institution to pursue the fulfilment of its mission while creating economies of scale, developing sustainable relationships, expanding its client base, and reducing risk through diversification. A relationship with a finance institution gives a cooperative access to a local source of finance, enabling it to offer more and better services to its members, which in turn means the members can get more involved.