FMO

The profile

FMO is the entrepreneurial development bank of the Netherlands. FMO’s mission is to stimulate sustainable economic growth and optimise development impact in emerging markets. FMO creates access to long-term capital and knowledge. FMO reaches out to private enterprises directly and indirectly through local financial institutions and invests in infrastructure in order to build enabling environments for entrepreneurship. Thanks in part to FMO’s relationship with the Dutch state (51% shareholder), FMO is able to take risks that commercial financiers are not prepared to take.

The project

In 2008, Hand in Hand was able to launch an innovative agrarian micro-entrepreneur training programme thanks to the support of FMO, the Dutch development bank co-owned by the Dutch government and various banks. The project, costing USD 1.4 million and partly funded by the FMO, runs over two years in five districts in Tamil Nadu. The aim is to train 4,000 dairy farmers and 4,000 fruit and vegetable farmers so that they can increase yields, develop consumer-friendly products, and sell directly to the new supermarkets. The farmers will also be trained as entrepreneurs, taught about insurance against natural disasters, and introduced to microfinance in order to invest in new knowledge and expand their businesses.