In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwaddy Delta in Myanmar. The cyclone occurred when rice was being harvested during the dry season. 95% of housing was destroyed by the hurricane, 800,000 people were displaced and 783,000 hectares of rice fields were submerged; more than 85% of seeds were lost and 50% of draught animals were found dead. In this region, agriculture is the primary source of income for 80 % of families. And while Myanmar is the 7^th largest rice producer, before the cyclone the Delta region accounted for 50% of the country’s rice production.

In 2012, as part of a programme to relaunch agricultural activities in the region, GRET set up financial services for agriculture and farmers. After an indepth study of demand, two appropriate financial products were proposed: leasing credit and storage credit. Then in 2014, a microcredit intended for bauthama (small producers with little or no land) was proposed in the same region.

These financial services that have been proposed since 2012 are now tried and tested, and considered by customers as essential for their development. At the end of 2015, the overall total of equipment hired was 466 units of agricultural machinery for a total outstanding amount of over 100,000 USD. Similarly, more than 4,000 sacks of rice had been pledged since 2013 as collateral for credit totalling approximately 50,000 USD in loans. And at the end of 2015, outstanding classic microcredits amounted to 22,000 USD.

In order to make these inclusive financial services sustainable, GRET is focusing on the creation of a credit unions network. A business plan was drawn up estimating that some one hundred villages, 3,000 customers and outstanding credit of 500,000 USD were necessary to reach financial equilibrium making it possible to ensure a sustainable service in the entire zone.

GRET is financed by its Support fund (FIND) for this institutionalisation phase of the project and to facilitate the development and growth of credits through the establishment of existing financial services in new villages.

Expected results:

• Facilitate the development and growth of credits through the establishment of existing financial services in new villages.
• Define the governance model and the legal form of the future credit institution in order to make services in the Delta sustainable.