Small Scale (SS) farmers in Rwanda and most Sub Saharan African countries do not have the financial
understanding and enabling environment to live sustainably. Current economic opportunities are unable to
effectively and efficiently benefit SS farmers because of high interest rates and a lack of
acknowledgement of cultural needs. Local microfinance institutions often charge high interest rates and
provide little financial and technological assistance to the farm owners. As a result, SS farmers are unable
to leverage the money towards improving sustainable technology and have been left off in worse financial
and living situations. Online loan services, such as Kiva, target small entrepreneurial businesses and
farms, but interest rates of 35% are not affordable.1
People who “invest” through sites such as Kiva do not
gain any return on their “investments” and are therefore not incentivised to contribute large sums of
money, which means that everyday people are the primary source of capital.2 Humanitarian aid has been
very important and impactful in Rwanda following one of the worst genocides in world history, but is still
in need of more innovative approaches to utilizing and securing capital. Many current foreign aid
approaches do not properly recognize and respect the cultural contexts of food insecure nations, which
has lead to failed foreign aid initiatives. Foreign aid, while beneficial and effective on the surface, has
lead to claims that it perpetuates the crises and repressive policies of the Tutsi regime.3 An innovative
online investment platform is therefore needed. Using Rwanda as part of its initial pilot program, my plan
aims to fix many of the growing problems with current approaches towards foreign aid and to empower
SS farmers to improve their agricultural existence, while not impeding on sustainable progress