Ebo SACCO is a farmers’ owned, used and managed financial institution. The SACCO acquired legal status from the Registrar of Cooperatives in 2002. Ebo Sacco in close collaboration with Mbarara District Farmers Association (Mbadifa) supports farmer groups in their savings and credit activities. In the period 2007 – 2009 it doubled its savings and portfolio size. In the new project Ebo Sacco aims to cover 111 farmer groups that have access to and use financial services to increase their production and marketing (mainly banana). Additional credit funds enable EBO SACCO to reach out to more farmer groups in Mbarara. These groups have been prepared by Mbadifa - the District Farmers Association - in selecting their enterprise and getting ready to engage in markets. Those groups are ready to take up a loan from the SACCO, who has supported them in internal savings; savings with the SACCO; how to apply for and manage a loan. In being able to reach more groups, Ebo SACCO contributes to a bigger impact in the different sub-counties of Mbarara district, but it also contributes to the financial sustainability of the SACCO (mobilizing more clients and more savings). Additional funds will be made available through Ebo Sacco as a loan to Mbadifa Enterprises Ltd. Mbadifa Enterprises Ltd uses the loan as working capital for her business activities as stipulated in the Business Plan. The funds cannot be used for fixed asset acquisition or recurrent expenditures.

The project is located in the Mbarara district. The large majority of its inhabitantants, 80% of the 400,000 inhabitants, are farmers completely dependent on agriculture for their survival. The majority of them earns less than 5 euro per month. The main problems that these farmers have, is that they are subsistence farmers and lack income and food security, access to markets, lack of capital and lack of organization. Ebo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society is a member based Microfinance Institution, which is based in the Mbarara district, registered as a SACCO in 2002. Currently Ebo has over 2300 members and serves the areas of Kashaari County, Mbarara Municipality and the neighboring districts. Ebo is focused on providing services to the economically active poor and has ample attention for cross cutting issues as gender, HIV and the environment as they are part of the contempary community. Ebo closely cooperates with other local organizations (other Trias partners) as Mbadifa. There is a close cooperation on the so called PAED (Participatory Agricultural Enterprise Development, created by CIAT) approach where Mbadifa orients and organizes the farmers, and facilitates a process in which the organized farmers set up a collective enterprise. As capital is necessary to put into practice this enterprise idea, Ebo can offer adapted finance. In coordination with other actors as Mbadifa Farmers Asociation an integral assistance is offered to the poor farmers in order to alleviate their poverty and generate other opportunities. The objective of this specific project is: smallholder farm households have increased investment in their farming business Expected results: 81 groups (1620 households) have increased investment in their farming business. Activities: Train groups in savings and loan management (both internal and external) Access and appraise loan applications Disburse credit (adjusted to the type of enterprise and agricultural season) Follow up and track performance of groups in loan management Develop appropiate agro-enterprise loan products for selected enterprises.