The Global Mechanism (GM) is delighted to announce the publication of Ecuador’s Sustainable Land Management (SLM)-Climate Change (CC) Microfinance Strategy.
The Strategy, developed by the Government, with GM technical support, offers a comprehensive and sustainable approach to mobilizing fresh financial resources for SLM and climate change adaptation activities through Ecuador’s microfinance system.
While traditionally, microfinance has focused on microenterprise development and credit for consumption, Ecuador is a striking example of how microfinance can be integrated into broader development processes, directly linked to national priorities.
The Strategy illustrates how microfinance schemes potentially constitute a powerful tool for poverty reduction, by supporting improved land management practices such as sustainable agriculture and pastoralism, restoration of degraded lands, diversification of agroforestry management, reforestation, and other activities benefiting the livelihoods of rural populations and ecosystems.
The Strategy also aims to build long-term capacities and national expertise on microfinance opportunities and procedures, which the GM is supporting through the organization of national-level workshops and multi-stakeholder platforms for key players from local government, research and extension institutions, civil society organizations and international cooperation partners.
The Ecuadorian microfinance model holds the potential to be replicated in other countries across the globe – fuelling expectations that microfinance will become a key to the emergence of a new generation of smallholder producers who will be a significant force in enhancing environmental resilience, while at the same time contributing to broader development goals such as national food sovereignty and economic growth.
For more information:
Ms Soledad Bastidas
egional Advisor for Ecuador & the Andean Region
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