Living Goods
BRAC Joint Venture in Uganda
In early 2007, LG initiated a joint venture to pilot its innovative model in Uganda with BRAC. BRAC is one of the worlds largest, most efficient, and effective development organizations. Founded by Fazle Hasan Abed in Bangladesh in the 1970s, BRAC’s core competency is microfinance. It serves over five million microcredit borrowers and operates its lending profitably, despite charging below market interest rates. BRAC implements its lending through Village Organizations (VOs) composed of 25-30 women. BRAC targets the hard core rural poor who are not served by other lending groups. The average loan is ~US$100-200. BRAC practices a highly integrated strategy of development, using its village groups as the conduit for delivering a range of other social services including education, agriculture and health. BRAC has a particular strength in health .Over the last 30 years in Bangladesh BRAC has created a highly scaled network of health volunteers, built deep expertise in essential health care, and innovated many successful strategies for reducing childhood deaths.
BRAC initiated efforts to replicate its microfinance model in Africa in 2006, starting with Tanzania and Uganda. In just 3 years in Uganda, BRAC opened 85 branch offices in more than 30 districts, created 2000+ village organizations with 60,000 members, and made loans to more than 50,000 women. Much of the credit for this impressive launch goes to Mr. Khondoker Ariful Islam, BRAC’s Uganda Country Manager. Mr. Islam has over 25 years with BRAC and possesses exceptional judgment, drive and management ability.
In Uganda, BRAC recruits Community Health Promoters from its existing VOs. The advantages of this are potent; the members of the VOs are essentially pre-screened by local officials and BRAC and the VO provides both a natural customer base for the CHP as well as an imprimatur in the community. Exsisting BRAC branch offices are leveraged as supply depots and Living Goods’ field agents work out of these branch offices to train, support and monitor the mobile Community Health Promoters..
