Post on 07-Mar-2016
description
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The Foundation’s Social Business
portfolio
“ When I see a social problem, I come up with a business solution to it. I’ve
created over 50 Social Business companies without getting a dollar out of
them. In Social Businesses, making money is a means not an end, money is
recycled within the system.”
Professor Yunus
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Founder of the Grameen Bank
Initiator of the Idea of social business
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The food and social challenge
In Senegal, more than half of the population has no access to quality
food. Whereas more than one third of the population –almost 4
million people – live from livestock breeding, 90% of dairy products
are imported and reconstituted out of dried milk which has a low
nutritional value. In rural areas, the lack of industrial plants for
transformation does not allow any development or local dairy
production.
The social innovation of the Laiterie du Berger
The Laiterie du Berger was founded in 2005 by Bagoré Bathily, a young Senegalese entrepreneur with a veterinary
education. In the Sahelian region of Richard Toll, the Fulani herders previously had no market outlets for their dairy
products. With the Laiterie located in the heart of the collecting zone, they receive a regular income and are stimulated
to improve the quality and quantity of milk produced by the cattle herds, to organize themselves in groups and then to
enhance their economic development.
The Laiterie du Berger has bet on the development of a modern production plant with a capacity of 10,000 litres/day,
located eight hours’ drive from Dakar, which is its main market.
Thanks to a dynamic marketing approach under the DOLIMA brand, it currently accounts for 12% of the fresh dairy
products market and is the number three Senegalese company in the sector. By improving the quality of its fresh
products made out of collected milk, it has developed an innovative dairy network in western Africa and has become
a reference in the region.
The impact
2010 2011 2014 Growth
N° of herders 786 946 1426 50%
N° of people concerned 1850 2451 3693 50%
Volume collected (tons) 512 929 1908 110%
Annual income/herder (€) n.a. 314 408 30%
In addition to providing them with a regular income, the Laiterie du
Berger was involved originally in supporting farmers through animal
nutrition activities, improvements in genetics, veterinary care and
training. The Laiterie du Berger has also created one hundred of
salaried jobs, half in Richard Toll.
Goals 2014
The Laiterie prepares innovative products to meet the needs and eating habits of more customers. It aims to show a
positive net income from 2014. It will also further strengthen the services to cattle farmers to improve the productivity
of their herds and secure the supply chain.
The Laiterie du Berger (Shepherd’s Dairy) offers a business solution to bad nutrition and poverty in the Sahelian
region of north Senegal. It collects milk from nearly 1000 Fulani herders to process it into fresh dairy products.
Unique market outlet for these herders, the Laiterie du Berger promotes the local dairy and livestock production
and strengthens the economic fabric in rural areas. It also contributes to better food security in Senegal where
over 90% of dairy consumption depends on powdered milk imports.
Yero Mariem Sow, Herder
"It is milk sales that allow me to support myself.
We are nomadic herders. We have many
animals but until now they were useless
because we spent the year in transhumance in
the bush. With the Laiterie du Berger I was able
to modernize our farming operation. Before, I
had to sell my cows to support myself. Today, it
is the sale of milk that allows me to do so. I sell
15 litres per day for 3,000 CFA francs. This has
allowed me to build an enclosure and to keep
20 cows out of 70 that I have for producing
milk. They are better fed, my herd is growing."
La Laiterie du Berger … good for me, good for my country …
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation
The Foundation owns 10% of the Laiterie du Berger shares.
Besides the Bathily family and Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P), the
company’s other shareholders are the SICAV danone.community (fund) and Phitrust. All its
partners share the same corporate vision and social mission.
With the help of the Foundation a long-term plan for the development of dairy farming has been designed by GRET, a
French NGO. This plan forecasts structuring actions to improve the dairy potential in the collection zone. These actions
will focus on improving access to cattle food by using the regional vegetable resources, to water through hydraulic
constructions, and on training for the creation of a pilot farm, and on better access to technical, veterinary and
financial services for the farmers. It also forecasts the setting up of a “service centre”, which itself will be a social
business, to implement these actions within a framework of consultation with farmers and all local stakeholders.
The Foundation has decided to support the Laiterie du Berger for its commitment in the setting up of an inclusive and
value added dairy value chain, likely to become a reference in Western Africa, its contribution to the improvement of
everyday life for the herders, the creation of local jobs and its contribution to the food security of the Senegalese
population.
The Laiterie du Berger’s shareholders
• Bagoré Bathily is the founder and CEO of the Laiterie du Berger. Graduate of the veterinarian university of Liege
(Belgium), he worked with French, Mauritanian and Senegalese dairy producers before he founded the Laiterie du
Berger, a limited liability company.
• Danone Communities: launched in December 2007, this
fund, managed and marketed by the Crédit Agricole Group,
aims to support the development of social business
(www.danonecommunities.com/sicav)
• Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P)
accompanies microfinance institutions and midsize
businesses in Africa in their financial and managerial
activities (www.ip-dev.com)
• The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation
(www.grameen-credit-agricole.org)
• Phitrust has been supporting businesses and associations
that have a positive impact on communities since 2005
(www.phitrustpartenaires.com)
Partners of the project • Gret : www.gret.org
• Agence Française de Développement : www.afd.fr
• Association Sud-Ouest pour le Développement
International Agricole: www.asodia.org
• Direction de la Coopération Internationale de Monaco :
www.cooperation-monaco.gouv.mc
Senegal
Surface area: 196,712 km²
Population: 12.9 million inhabitants
GDP per capita: $1,900 (2011)
GNI per capita: $1,708 (2011)
Population below poverty line: 33.5% (2009)
Population in extreme poverty: 44.4%
HDI: 0.459 (155 out of 187 countries classified in 2011)
Senegal's economy is dominated by a few strategic
sectors (peanuts, chemical industry, tourism, fishing and
services). Agriculture accounts for 13.8% of GDP, industry
20.5% and services 65.7%. Nearly two thirds of
households live in rural areas. Senegalese agriculture is
based both on cash crops (peanuts, cotton) and food
crops (millet, sorghum, maize, rice).
Livestock farming concerns over a third of the
population, mostly Fulani. The exploitation of livestock
remains heavily dominated by traditional models of
extensive herding, pastoral and agro-pastoral. The
breeding of cattle and small ruminants is an answer to
savings and to social prestige as well as to economic
exploitation.
Affected by constraints of access to water, feed,
veterinary care, and by insufficient peasant organisation,
milk production is highly seasonal and does not meet
domestic needs.
La Laiterie du Berger … good for me, good for my country …
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The Social challenge
Traditionally, solidarity efforts towards the poorest are undertaken
through NGOs and public services. These traditional means being
insufficient, some people now wish to find other innovative ways for
solidarity to be more efficient and direct.
The Social innovation of Babyloan
Babyloan offers web-users different ways to show solidarity.
The social enterprise ABC Microfinance SAS, founder of the Babyloan
website, was created in 2008 thanks to the initiative of its two
founders, Arnaud Poissonnier and Aurélie Dutoit, and a unique alliance of NGOs, banks and European retail investors
involved in the solidarity microcredit field.
A well-documented file allows the "Babyloanian" to have all the necessary information to make an informed choice.
"The average amount of funding for projects is €288 for an average period of eight months", says founder Arnaud
Poissonnier. The minimum loan by the “babyloanians” is €20 but the average is around €55.
The Babyloanian charges no interest, but gets his/her money back at maturity of the loan. He/She may then decide to
get his/her money back or to finance other projects.
Babyloan is a community platform for solidarity micro-bankers: the "Babyloanians". It also helps build a bridge
between the solidarity web-users and southern microentrepreneurs and establish a form of direct and personalised
financial solidarity.
Babyloan relies on local microfinance institutions (MFIs) to select the projects proposed to users. These MFIs are
responsible for the support to entrepreneurs in the field and are guarantors of the proper use of money lent. They are
the ones receiving the funds lent by the Babyloanians and financing the projects presented on the platform, with an
interest rate that depends on all of their refinancing and operational costs. In case beneficiaries do not repay their loan -
1,5% to 5% according to Arnaud Poissonnier – the microfinance institutions reimburse lenders. Babyloan also supports
microentrepreneurs in France through ADIE.
In 2009, at the initiative of Babyloan, the Babyfund Fixed Rate2013
was created: a solidarity fund supporting microcredit by offering direct
credit lines to microfinance institutions.
To ensure its economic sustainability, Babyloan is funded by several
revenue sources:
• Revenues from the collection of loans: a commission paid by web-
user lenders, depending on the amount lent; registration fees paid
by MFIs to Babyloan plus an annual flat fee paid by MFIs on the
basis of their total assets, and financial returns on cash flows.
• Event income-related sponsorship and consulting activity
The platform defines itself as a Social Business which will reinvest most of its income in its mission: solidarity loans,
support to MFIs and promotion of public awareness about microfinance.
Entrepreneurs: the fruits of Manh
Manh is 51. She is a farmer and cultivates fruit
trees near her house in Trung Oai, a small rural
community 25 km from Hanoi in Vietnam. She
divorced a few years ago and must work hard to
provide for her son. Manh sells fruit such as
grapefruit and green bark oranges, by the unit.
She needs this microcredit to plant more fruit
trees. Manh is supported by the MFI Seda. She
needs a loan of €320 over 12 months. Babyloan
gathered Klaudia, Aurora and the SOS group
(comprising 41 lenders) to supply the loan.
At the crossroads of the world of finance and solidarity, Babyloan provides consumers with a new way to
commit themselves by supporting microentrepreneurs in the south to help them escape poverty and
dependency. Babyloan is the first European platform of solidarity loans and it allows each web-user to become
a solidarity banker by joining the Babyloanian community.
Babyloan … microcredits, great stories …
www.babyloan.org
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The impact
Goals
Babyloan aims to expand the number of Babyloanians, to strengthen its
network of MFI partners and increase awareness. The platform intends
to break even in 2015.
The support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
The Foundation is a shareholder of ABC
Microfinance up to 5% and has concluded
a cooperation agreement. Through the
Foundation, three Regional Banks of Crédit Agricole (Centre-Est,
Pyrénées-Gascogne and Franche Comté) have also decided to
accompany Babyloan, by becoming shareholders of ABC Microfinance.
The Foundation has chosen to support the Babyloan social enterprise
because it creates a chain of financial solidarity for the benefit of
southern microentrepreneurs to help them out of poverty. It also
mobilises northern web-users through communication and education
actions to support responsible and solidarity microfinance.
The shareholders
• ACTED (Agence d’aide à la coopération technique et au
développement) : www.acted.org
• Etimos : www.etimos.it
• Crédit Coopératif : www.credit-coopératif.coop
• Neuflize OBC : www.neuflizeobc.net
• Bred : www.bred.fr • Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation : www.grameen-
credit-agricole.org
• Caisses Régionales de Crédit Agricole
• Over 30 individuals
2009 2010 2011
N° of microentrepreneurs
- female
n.a. 4,388 83%
8,500 83%
N° babyloanians +5,000 8,072 14,500
Cumulative amount invested (€) 491,583 840,000 1,300,000
Average loan amount online (€) 55.95 63 70
Website n° of visits 140,000 350,000 560,000 The MFI Partners
Chamroeun (Cambodia) supports families in
poor urban areas and helps them in
managing their business through training
and professional monitoring.
Finadev S.A. (Benin) meets the needs of
microentrepreneurs in difficulty by making
financial products available.
Oxus (Tajikistan) provides financial products
to microentrepreneurs.
Seda (Vietnam) is committed to improving
the living conditions of its
microentrepreneurs and contributes to the
development of small businesses.
Cepesiu (Ecuador) contributes to the
sustainable development of local economies
by providing a comprehensive range of
services and tools to small entrepreneurs.
ICDC (Philippines) combines microfinance,
consulting, training and personal
development for the empowerment of small
entrepreneurs.
Afodenic (Nicaragua) encourages economic,
social and cultural development and
strengthens the associative process of
people without access to banks.
Wages (Togo) provides products and
financial services to microentrepreneurs,
mostly women.
Edaprospo (Peru) aims to meet the needs of
microentrepreneurs who lack access to
conventional banks.
Adie (France) funds and supports French
entrepreneurs, especially the unemployed
and social welfare recipients.
Asala (Gaza/West Bank) accompanies
Palestinian women in difficult
circumstances.
KOMIDA (Indonesia) is a savings and loan
cooperative that finances exclusively
women living in rural areas.
Babyloan … microcredits, great stories …
www.babyloan.org
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The dietary and social challenge
In Bangladesh, the malnutrition rates are among the highest in the
world: 54% of young children show stunting, 56% are underweight
and 17% are extremely skinny. These symptoms of malnutrition are
linked to deficiencies in micro nutriments such as vitamin A, iron,
iodine, and zinc. Furthermore, more than 59% of women suffer from
chronic energy deficiency and the studies show that there has been
little improvement in the last 20 years (source: FAO 2010, nutritional
profile).
The Grameen Danone Foods Ltd social innovation
GDFL was created to meet infant nutritional problems by developing an innovative industrial solution: the shokti doi
yogurt, “a yogurt that makes you strong”. Made out of local cows’ milk and date molasses, the shokti doi is naturally
rich in calcium and necessary proteins for growth and strength and is also enriched with micro nutriments that lack in
the traditional local food (vitamin A, zinc, iodine). The prices and products have been adapted to the different
consumers. The Shokti + doï is sold in the towns and villages of Bangladesh for a price of seven taka that is €0.07 for
60g. The Shokti + doï extra-protein and the Shokti + mango with mango flavour are distributed in the larger cities of the
country for a higher price.
Moreover, the entire production and distribution chain of GDFL was built around a clear aim: create as many jobs as
possible in the local community.
GDFL uses a proximity operating model (short channels):
- GDFL buys from micro farms that produce raw material (milk, sugar and date molasses) within a 50 km radius. The
local farmers use microcredits proposed by the Grameen Bank to start their businesses or increase their livestock, as
well as the expertise of Danone to improve the quality of their production.
- In the Bogra plant that has been operational since February 2007, they employ local staff rather than using
machines.
- GDFL has developed an original distribution system: the “Grameen Ladies” who are supplied by small
intermediaries, do the door-to-door selling in order to reach the rural consumers in the most remote areas and earn
a small additional income.
The impact
Children five to 12 years old are the primary beneficiaries of
the product. Early studies conducted by Johns Hopkins
University, at the request of the NGO GAIN, demonstrate that
this initiative has a very positive impact on the physical and
cognitive development of children.
2009 2010 2011
N° of employees n.a. n.a. 200
N° Grameen Ladies 650 821 980
N° farms supported n.a. 370 n.a.
Production (tons) 700 2,500 n.a.
Turnover (€) 773,745 17,196,890 n.a.
N° yogurts sold/day 35,319 86,860 n.a.
Points of sale 3,863 n.a. +10,000
Grameen Danone Foods Limited (GDFL) is a joint venture founded in Bangladesh in March 2006 by the Grameen
and Danone groups. Pioneer of social business, GDFL wants to improve children’s health with a yogurt specially
made to satisfy dietary deficiencies essentially found in children, and affordable to the lowest budgets. To
implement this project, GDFL was set up in the socio-economic fabric of the Bogra region, 250 km to the north
of Dhaka, to promote income-generating activities: GDFL buys milk from small farms and develops a rural door-
to-door sales network (the Grameen ladies).
Danone Foods Ltd. … the yogurt that makes you strong …
www.danonecommunities.com
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
Goals 2012
• In order to strengthen the new distribution system, rickshaw sellers are being trained to sell together with the
Grameen Ladies;
• The cold chain is strengthened and the storage capacity of the plant doubled;
• Launching of the Shokti + pocket (40g plastic bags for five takas (same price as four years ago)). A mixture of milk and
cereals tasting like traditional local yogurt, it can last for 20 days out of the cold chain and will eventually multiply the
sales possibilities by 10;
• Construction of a new plant of a capacity of 7,000 tons, near Dhaka.
The support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation
The Foundation is a shareholder in GDFL and is represented on its Board of Directors.
The Foundation decided to support GDFL due to its innovative action against children’s malnutrition
and its action related to the development of rural communities. GDFL accompanies and helps small
local farmers improve their production and offers them steady marketing opportunities. GDFL also
creates local jobs and promotes the development of income generating activities, especially for
women. Above all, GDFL has a fundamental positive influence on children’s health.
Shareholders
Grameen Danone Food Limited is a « limited liability company ». Its shareholders are:
• GRAMEEN (www.grameen-info.org): co-founder and shareholder for 43% through several companies;
• DANONE Asie (www.danone.com): leading world group in the food industry, Danone considers it is its mission to
give access to quality food to the greatest number.
• Danone.Communities (www.danonecommunities.com): launched in 2007, this fund (French SICAV), managed and
marketed by the Crédit Agricole Group, aims to develop social business projects proposed by Danone. It holds 29% of
the shares in Grameen Danone Foods.
• The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation:
shareholder for 7% (www.grameen-credit-agricole.org)
Partners of the project
• GAIN (www.gainhealth.org): finances a study to measure
the impact on children’s health
• CARE (www.carebd.org): develops a distribution model of
multi-brand door-to-door sellers who more particularly
distribute GDFL’s products.
Danone Foods Ltd. … the yogurt that makes you strong …
www.danonecommunities.com
Bangladesh
Surface area: 143,998 km²
Population: 158.5 million inhabitants
GDP per capita: $1,700 (2011)
GNI per capita: $1,529 (2011)
Population below poverty line: 49.6% (2009)
Population in extreme poverty: 26.2%
HDI: 0.496 (146 out of 187 countries classified in 2011)
The economy of Bangladesh is dominated by a few
strategic sectors: textiles, shipbuilding, export of jute, tea
and shrimp. The main sectors contributing to GDP are
agriculture (19%), industry (29%) and services (52%).
Nearly 80% of the population depends on agriculture, rice
being the main crop. The majority lives in very precarious
conditions and suffers from food insecurity and
permanent illnesses. Most people do not have the means
of production (land, tools, etc.).
The problems of water management, soil exhaustion,
fragmentation of land ownership and the high proportion
of landless farmers are coupled with a poor road
infrastructure that impedes the marketing of agricultural
products.
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The Socio-economic challenge
In Cambodia, there are more and more microfinance operators and
competition is fierce. This competition can have not only positive
consequences on the borrowers, as for example a steady decrease in
interest rates, but also disastrous effects when some operators lend
without checking out the real needs or even worse, the repayment
abilities of the borrowers. Moreover, the low-income entrepreneurs
and the poorest are excluded from the main microfinance
institutions’ targets, being considered too risky and not profitable
enough.
The social mission of Chamroeun
In such a competitive environment, Chamroeun places its social commitment at the heart of its mission.
In 2006, the French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde created Chamroeun. The purpose was to allow the poorest families
of Phnom Penh wishing to develop a small business, to have access to loans, savings, and health services, and to
education and social welfare. Being successful, the programme became an independent Cambodian microfinance
institution in 2009. In 2011, it was certified as an official microfinance institution by the Central Bank of Cambodia. It has
been financially independent since the end of 2010.
Chamroeun works with families who live in poor urban areas and helps them to meet unexpected expenses and to
implement a long term dynamic entrepreneurial processes. It helps them run their small business or petty trade and
develop their management skills as well as their self-confidence through education and professional follow up. Lastly, it
provides them with social support by addressing them to specialised organisations.
The financial products are adapted to the poorest: the
credit amount lent is particularly small and the wide
range of products matches the needs of a very low
income population and helps them finance their
entrepreneurial activities. Social emergency loans (to deal
with the unexpected) as well as savings or microinsurance
products are also proposed.
The non-financial services support both entrepreneurial
and social or personal development: strategy and
business management training, new skills acquisition,
referring to specialised social organisms, help for job
seeking.
Chamroeun … partner for success …
www.chamroeun.com
Sopheap, a customer
Since February 2009 Chamroeun has helped Sopheap and her
husband run their religious statues workshop:
• two loans of 1,500,000 then 2,000,000 riels (€270 and
€358) at rates that free them from moneylenders (around
180% on average)
• a savings account that they use to deposit or withdraw
sums as small as required to buy raw materials as
frequently as they need.
• adapted trainings.
The family’s production increased. It has variety, is of good
quality and is sold for competitive prices. Their net income rose
from 250,000 to 950,000 riels (€45 to €170). Their everyday life
has considerably improved and they now know that they can
calmly think of paying university fees for their 3 daughters.
Chamroeun is a Cambodian microfinance institution whose core business relies on its social commitment. It
provides financial services to the poorest; those excluded from the range of classical microfinance institutions.
In order to maximize the credit impact and efficiently support the poorest families, it also provides a whole
range of economic, social and personal coaching and education services. Chamroeun re-invests its profits in its
activities to strengthen its social mission.
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The impact
* PAR 30, (portfolio at risk at 30
days): Measurement of the total
outstanding balance of loans past
due divided by the active portfolio
Goals
Run according to the social business principles, Chamroeun will develop three main actions to use the profits created by
its activities:
• downscaling of its interest rates for all of its loans;
• promotion of products and microbusinesses with a strong social added value (environment, health, etc.) through
microfinance;
• strengthening of support mechanisms for the poor.
The support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance
Foundation supports Chamroeun in three
different ways: first, it granted two medium
term loans in local currency, of amounts
equivalent to €100,000 and €346,000;
second, through technical assistance; third,
the Foundation has taken a 15% participation in its
shareholding and is a member of its Board of Directors,
together with Entrepreneurs du Monde and Microfinance
Solidaire.
Technical partners
• Since 1998, Entrepreneurs du Monde has supported a social
and responsible approach to microfinance so as to ensure
the beneficiaries’ empowerment : www.entrepreneurs du
monde.org
Financial partners
The important growth of the credit fund was financed by donations from the French Development Agency (Agence
Française de Dévelopment), the Don Boule de Neige Association and the Louis D Foundation. Added to this are loans
from Babyloan, Grameen Crédit Agricole, Microfinance Solidarity, Planis, Pro Victimis, etc.
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
N° of branches 7 9 10 10 12
N° of active borrowers
- female
1,942 82%
4,213 82%
7,151 82%
14,893 81%
27,900 81%
Portfolio (€) 87,555 302,193 559,372 1,351,000 1,810,000
Reimbursement rate 99% 98% 97% 99% 99%
PAR 30* 0.53% 0.64% 0.71% 0.20% 0.05%
Average loan (€) na na na 86 95
N° of training participants 3,182 27,211 36,474 56,221 99,909
N° of employees 32 47 63 94 162
N° of loan officers 18 25 29 46 84
Chamroeun … partner for success …
www.chamroeun.com
Cambodia
Surface area: 181,035 km²
Population: 14.9 million inhabitants
GDP per capita: $2,300 (2011)
GNI per capita: $1,848 (2011)
Population below poverty line: 28.3% (2009)
Population in extreme poverty: 22%
IDH: 0.523 (139 out of 187 countries classified in 2011)
Cambodia's economy relies mainly on agriculture,
textiles, tourism and construction. Agriculture accounts
for 31.2% of GDP, industry 21.7%, services 40.0%.
Agriculture, mainly focused on rice, rubber and cassava,
is the basis of economic activity. It employs 80% of the
workforce. However, the country is currently
experiencing, following the global crisis, a deteriorating
economic situation. Traditional sectors of the economy
are beginning to falter and new growth areas have not
yet taken over. The engines of the economy appear
insufficiently diversified and too fragile.
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
The socio-economic challenge
The Androy region is located in the south of Madagascar. This is the driest
and the poorest region of the island. Over 95% of the population lives on
less than $1 per day. Economic activity is based primarily on subsistence
agriculture and is therefore very vulnerable to climatic hazards.
Agricultural production and limited economic opportunities of households
do not allow them to meet their food needs, and often a barter economy
comes into operation. This vulnerability is exacerbated by standards and
traditions of the region, leaving a limited role for women and
strengthening the impoverishment process.
The social mission
PhileoL was founded in 2008 by Stéphane Philizot, a French chemical engineer, and two Malagasy agronomists: Nary
Razakasolo and Njaka Ravelmantsoa. PhileoL breaks the vicious circle of poverty in Androy: it structures an oilseed
operation incorporating all actors in the value chain.
While preserving the place of food crops, PhileoL helps farmers produce castor and jatropha seeds particularly adapted
to arid regions. Farmers are thus assured of a steady income. They are accompanied by PhileoL and its partners to
improve the quality and quantity produced, to organise themselves into groups and thus have better control over their
economic development.
PhileoL has also taken up the challenge of developing a modern mining and oil production plant in this desolate region.
In doing so it contributes to economically strengthening the region, creating added value from local production and
revitalising the local infrastructure, including port Ehoala (Fort Dauphin).
PhileoL plays a significant role in the Malagasy oilseed area and seized the opportunity of a growing market, that of
“green” oils, used by industry to minimise its environmental impact.
The impact
Besides securing and diversifying farmers'
incomes in the region, PhileoL develops
partnerships with other development actors to
strengthen their technical and organisational
capabilities.
PhileoL will also strengthen the economic and
social development of communities by devoting a portion of its future profits to a fund for rural development (health,
female education, technical training, etc.). Finally, PhileoL has a positive impact on the environment by the cultivation of
oilseeds, whose root systems contribute to the soil’s refertilization and the fight against erosion.
2011 2012 Growth
Number of suppliers 3,000 5,000 66%
Number of farmers accompanied - 500 -
Volume of seeds collected (tons) 180 254 41%
Volume of oil sold (tons) 60 76 26%
Number of jobs created 21 36 71%
PhileoL Madagascar
PhileoL Madagascar has been established since 2008 in Androy, the driest and poorest region of Madagascar. It
has developed an inclusive oilseed operation, collecting jatropha and castor oil seeds among local farmers,
transforming these oils locally and exporting them to the region and to Europe, where they are prized by the
green industry. Thus, PhileoL secures farmers' income and promotes local agricultural production. It also
contributes to strengthening the capacities and structuring of farmers.
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
Goals
By 2016, PhileoL aims to become the main actor in the Malagasy oilseed field while allowing nearly 6,000 farmers to
increase their income by five times and strengthen their role in the industry.
The support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
The Foundation owns a 15% stake in PhileoL Madagascar, alongside the three founders,
the investment company Investisseur & Partenaire pour le développement, and Sofisud.
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation supports PhileoL especially in its mission of social
business by developing tools to assess its social performance, as described in the Social
Business charter of the enterprise, which is its road map. The Foundation also supports the company in the
management of its technical partnerships with other development actors.
Stakeholders
• Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P) accompanies microfinance institutions and midsize
businesses in Africa in their financial and managerial activities (www.ip-dev.com)
• Sofisud was founded in 2009 by Sofiproteol, the French oilseed leader. Sofisud supports projects in Africa that
promote the sustainable cultivation of oilseeds and the emergence of new local industries.
• Stéphane Philizot is the founder of the company. He is a chemical engineer and worked for 12 years with ForboSolino
(leading French manufacturer of resilient flooring). In
parallel, he started a business selling champagne, intended
especially for export.
• Nary Razakasolo is associate manager of PhileoL. He is an
agronomist and has been working in the field of agricultural
SME development and management for 15 years. He is also
associate manager of Madagascar essential oils.
• Njaka Ravelomantsoa is associate manager of PhileoL. He is
an agronomist and has been working in agribusiness and
agro-management for 15 years. He is also associate manager
of Madagascar essential oils.
Partners
Today, PhileoL is a recognized player in the economic and social
development of Androy. The Malagasy NGO EFA, which
implements the programme of technical and organisational
support to farmers (with financial support from the United
Nations Development Programme), is one of its partners.
PhileoL has also developed a partnership with the World Bank,
which financially supports the action of PhileoL in the revival of
the trading port (economic activities in the area of Ehoala and
support for farmers).
Madagascar
Surface area: 587,040 km²
Population: 22.5 millions d’habitants
GDP per capita: $900 (2011)
GNI per capita: $824 (2011)
Population below poverty line: 67.8% (2009)
Population in extreme poverty: 35.4%
IDH: 0.480 (151 out of 187 countries classified in 2011)
The Malagasy economy is based primarily on
agriculture. This sector supports four-fifths of the
inhabitants. Rice is the main cereal and the staple.
Madagascar also has a large herd of zebu that provides
the main meat consumed in the country.
Madagascar is still in a state of great poverty. The
reasons for poverty are many. The original socialist
path chosen in 1972 is a cause of backwardness in the
economy, due to the continued deterioration of
infrastructure, administrative restraints on business
and investment development, land and legal
insecurity, etc. The sense of solidarity of the Malagasy
people is another factor. The members of the same
family faithfully support each other, sometimes at the
expense of personal initiative and entrepreneurial
spirit.
Moreover, according to the French economic mission
in Antananarivo, the labour market went through one
of its worst crises in 2010, with strong growth in
unemployment and underemployment, declining
purchasing power of households, the development of
the informal sector, inequality and insecurity.
PhileoL Madagascar
Social Business: the Foundation’s
portfolio
… accompanying Social Businesses …
Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation
5 Allée Scheffer
L-2520 Luxembourg
www.grameen-credit-agricole.org
microfinance.grameen@credit-agricole-sa.fr
Credit photos : Philippe Lissac –Danone Communities – PhileoL Madagascar