SIDI trip to Tunisia: participants tell their stories

Visite SIDI Beni Ghreb

In Tunisia, we took part in a meeting of SIDI shareholders who had come to observe how their money is being used to help people, and to put SIDI’s generous ideas of ” supporting the poorest” in the context of complex day-to-day realities.

In this way, SIDI has brought together a very wide range of “partners”.

1- First and foremost, Enda Interarabe, a structure that was supported and accompanied in the past, no longer really needs SIDI today, but continues to share its practices with us, for example when it promotes training to refine the personal project of each of its managers, or when it compensates for the inadequacy of school structures in Tunisia, thus playing a part in the common good of this country by disseminating good practices.

It’s good to meet the Enda Interarabe team, and in particular its founder Essma Ben Hamida, a radiant person who maintains the philosophy of service to beneficiaries and demonstrates that money for life is real.

2- Final beneficiaries, supported by Enda TamweelSIDI’s partner microfinance institution, work in all sectors of economic life. With very short-term loans, they set up their own business.

After Covid, one woman was able to transform her business, keep her premises and become a distributor of aloe vera-based wellness products: “Enda Tamweel really followed me and facilitated credit as and when I needed it”. She’s more than satisfied, she’s grateful.
We’ve met so many other ewe breeders, weavers, jewelry and dress designers, and the manager of a computer store, who’s on her third loan. She has created a job, pays her own way and takes care of her parents. She was very proud to show us the new machine that facilitates her computer activity, even though she was trained “on the job”…
These beneficiaries, different in age, needs and activity, were able to set up and develop with very little capital, thanks to their courage and ideas. The exemplary nature of SIDI’s action is very appealing.

3- In the south of Tunisia, we discovered larger companies. These agricultural companies, which market and export dates, take risks in the service of desert farmers.

With the Beni Ghreb partner, the entrepreneur’s welcome offers a nice surprise: “Thanks to you, we’re still here!” In other words, the family-run business is still going strong, enabling men and women to make a living from their work.

One hundred and twenty-three farmers and their families live in the harsh desert environment as the drought continues to take its toll…

In this oasis agriculture, attentive support is needed to solve every new problem, whether it’s drought, with its crucial corollary of water supply, Covid, insect pests, or switching to organic farming, which is more expensive than chemicals. At every stage, SIDI never let go of the company, playing the solidarity card to such an extent that the debt was transformed into a shareholding in the company’s capital. High-quality Deglet Nour dates are produced and exported.

The partnership with the farmers has enabled us to transform the irrigation model and add shrub crops, some market gardening and livestock farming to the palm trees, thereby increasing their income from dates.

Employment is maintained for the men who climb the trees several times a year (hand pollination, cleaning, pest protection and harvesting) and for the women who sort, classify, process and package the dates…

Then, with our partner South Organic, another organic date marketing company, we discovered an even more technical operation, with the presence of young women engineers, who enable scientific water management and the absence of chemical fertilizers in this pilot orchard, where all the region’s producers can come and learn these techniques. Here again, many people are employed in agricultural production and then in processing for shipment, often working for the company for several years and taking pride in their work.

In conclusion, Sidi is at the service of people, the economy and the earth. Here, the future is preserved, with those who stand up for themselves by raising sheep, sewing dresses, developing IT or growing dates. We keep hope alive…
And if the word shareholder is a dirty word, let’s be proud to be a shareholder of SIDI, which puts money at the service of people.

If the Gospel makes sense to you, we’ve found that SIDI brings the Parable of the Talents to life. Money lent, repaid and lent again…

Raymonde Richard and Françoise Michaud

Members of the Board ofESD, Epargne Solidarité Développement (SIDI’s association of individual shareholders)

SIDI trip to Tunisia, local solutions to global challenges

At the beginning of November, a group of SIDI savers and solidarity shareholders travelled to Tunisia to discover how their investments come to life in the field. The trip enabled them to meet SIDI’s local partners and discover the projects supported, thus embodying the chain of financial solidarity that unites savers here and micro-entrepreneurs or small producers there.

Tunisia is facing multiple crises: democratic transition at a standstill, deteriorating public services, galloping inflation, very high unemployment, particularly among young people, large-scale emigration to Europe and Canada, illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa, etc. These political, economic and social challenges are compounded by environmental issues, in particular the water crisis exacerbated by recurrent droughts. Added to these political, economic and social challenges is the environmental issue, and in particular the water crisis exacerbated by recurrent droughts. In this context, SIDI’s partners, whether in sustainable agricultural sectors such as Beni Ghreb and South Organic, or in the microfinance sector such as Enda Tamweel, play a crucial role in supporting vulnerable communities in their economic development and improving their living conditions.

Enda Tamweel: microfinance for emancipation

Enda Tamweel has become the country’s leading Microfinance Institution (MFI): 472,000 customers for a country of 11 million inhabitants. SIDI has been a partner since its creation in 2015, when it acquired a stake in the MFI. Enda Tamweel offers small loans designed to support micro-entrepreneurs and small farmers in their economic activities. It primarily targets the informal sector (59% of its customers live below the poverty line), women and young people, and the rural sector with strategic support for agriculture. Today, the MFI is the leading financier of small-scale agriculture in Tunisia.

During our visits, we were able to talk to beneficiaries whose inspiring stories illustrate the impact of this organization. In a working-class district of Tunis, we met Amina, a shopkeeper and Enda customer for many years. Amina is on her 12th loan cycle with Enda, which has enabled her to expand her business, build up sufficient stock, send her children to school and secure her future. In another district, a sewing workshop supported by Enda for over 20 years now employs seven women, demonstrating that microfinance can be a lever for long-term sustainable development. In Kairouan, in the center of the country, another beneficiary impressed us with his small dairy cow farm. This project, which began with the purchase of a single cow thanks to a microcredit, has gradually grown to include seven cows and a fully-equipped barn. With the ongoing support of his specialist advisor, he now meets the strict standards of the local dairy, which collects his milk.

From the farmer who started out with one cow to the craftswoman who makes evening dresses and now employs seven seamstresses, these initiatives bear witness to the lasting impact of microfinance. This support goes far beyond the financial. Enda offers all its customers free training and local support, guaranteeing a strong relationship of trust between loan officer and beneficiary, as well as the sustainability of projects and genuine social inclusion. These initiatives transform not only individual lives, but entire communities.

South Organic and Beni Ghreb: innovation in the face of the water crisis

In southern Tunisia, water management is a daily challenge for farmers, especially date growers. We headed for the Hazoua oasis, on the Algerian border, where a family of producers has set up and runs a small business marketing and exporting Beni Ghreb dates. The company is backed by the Groupement pour le Développement de l’Agriculture en Biodynamie, which groups together around a hundred producers from the oasis. The dates produced are of the excellent Deglet Nour variety. Attending the date harvest on one of the producers’ plots is a magical moment. We were able to see the sprinkler irrigation system in place, which saves 70% of water consumption, and allows other crops to grow between the date palms, notably fruit bushes. We then visited the packaging unit, which employs around a hundred young women from the village. Beni Ghreb is struggling to maintain its autonomy in a very fragile economic context. The emotion was palpable when the founder recalled that, thanks to the financial support of SIDI, and therefore of its shareholders, the community had overcome major crises such as drought, insect infestations, and above all the Covid crisis which had halted exports. “This project is life for Hazoua,” he insisted.

South Organic, another of SIDI’s partner date-packing and export SMEs, located in Kebili, some 100 km to the east, is also tackling the water issue with innovative solutions. South Organic works with 200 certified organic producers and employs just over 500 people, most of them women. Accompanied by the director and quality control manager, we visited their Al Wahaat pilot orchard, where the hydraulic engineer in charge of the project explained the irrigation system in place. This system drastically reduces water wastage by targeting the exact needs of crops, storing water, and alternating irrigation techniques according to the time of year. With this optimal water management, the crop stages under the date palms (legumes, arboriculture etc.) are re-established and can provide growers with additional income while promoting local biodiversity. The pilot orchard is open to all farmers in the region; they are invited to visit the plot and adopt these new techniques, thus amplifying its impact on a local scale.

A universal message

Each stage of this journey illustrated the strength of concrete and effective international solidarity. The projects encountered, whether in microfinance or sustainable agriculture, embodied the values that SIDI stands for: perseverance, solidarity and respect for people. For the participants, the trip not only enabled them to see the impact of their investments, but also to nurture their commitment to fairer, more sustainable development.

Trip to Ecuador for SIDI shareholders

Here’s a testimonial from one of them with Alicia, a farmer and customer of Banco Codesarrollo, the Ecuadorian social and popular economy bank in which Sidi has been a shareholder since 2016.

Meeting in Ecuador – by Nathalie Verhulst, SIDI shareholder

Experiencing solidarity and ecological development

In Ecuador, as elsewhere, social and climate issues are linked. The experience of Alicia, a farmer in the sierra in the north of the country, shows us how solidarity and the desire to develop a sustainable economic system can bear fruit on a territorial scale.

Alicia is the manager of “Rayon de soleil”, a SIPAS (Système familial Intégré de Production Agricole Soutenable) farm, i.e. a one-hectare, self-sufficient farm that takes into account climate change issues through the rational use of resources and plantations that prevent runoff and maintain humidity. She is president of her village community “San Petro alto”. As well as being self-sufficient, each farm in the community markets different processed products – cakes, cheese, roast guinea pigs, etc. – to avoid competition between farms.

Leader in agro-ecology

Alicia and her husband were able to transform their farm into a “SIPAS” thanks to micro-credit provided by Banco Codesarrollo and technical support from the FEPP (Fonds Equatorien Popularum Progressio) social group.

The ecological stakes of “SIPAS” are very high in Alicia’s home province of Imbabura, a highly fertile region in northern Ecuador where intensive potato cultivation leads to erosion and pollution.

The village community thus became aware of the role of the primary forest, and stopped clearing it. It has even started to reforest, which helps to limit the effects of wind on farms.

Funder, FEPP’s educational foundation, trains villagers in the “SIPAS” model. In addition to reforestation, Alicia and her family have started using biogas from the farm’s waste processing instead of wood for heating and cooking. The waste is also used for compost and animal feed. Water management – reservoirs, drip irrigation – guarantees the rational use of spring water and rainwater.

Village of solidarity

In addition to non-competition, each farm contributes to a common fund which helps to deal with individual difficulties – illness, claims, etc. – within the community.

The “Rayon de soleil” farm is a training ground for other farmers in the village, who come to learn about new techniques for self-sufficiency and sustainable production.

Banco Codesarrollo and Funder are two FEPP tools whose motto is “Better love, happiness and peace”. Alicia illustrates this with a big smile when asked what her project has changed for her: “It’s changed everything. We’re doing well economically. We’re showing the way to our neighbors and friends. For example, we all have passionflowers, but only ours produced fruit. Our neighbors have been able to copy our technique.