Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

Status update - November 18, 2021

SEVA Microfinance Institute's final loans with Kiva have been defaulted, and this partnership is now closed. For the last 5 years, Kiva has been working with SEVA to try to recover the remaining outstanding amounts due to Kiva lenders. Kiva and SEVA agreed upon a payment plan in February of 2017, but Kiva only received $15,000 of a total of $72,504 of payment commitments made in this plan. Kiva’s present assessment is that this Lending Partner is unable to make further payments, and thus the remaining $57,504 in outstanding amounts due to Kiva lenders has been defaulted. Economic conditions in Suriname have not improved following last year's elections and capital controls remain in place, making it impossible for SEVA to send USD out of the country.

If Kiva is able to recover any additional funds from SEVA, they will be applied to lenders' accounts on a pro-rata basis.

Status update - April 23, 2021

Kiva continues to work with SEVA to recover the balance owed lenders. However, due to the difficult macroeconomic situation in Suriname, recovery of the full balance is unlikely. Capital controls currently make it impossible for SEVA to send USD out of the country. Furthermore, the local currency has devalued by half in the past year, making USD twice as expensive for SEVA to acquire should controls be lifted. A new administration came to power following last year's elections and there is optimism that economic conditions will improve. In that event, SEVA is prepared to honor their debt to lenders as best they can.

Status update — February 5, 2018

Due to economic difficulties, hyperinflation and poor weather conditions in Suriname, SEVA Microfinance Institute continues to face cash flow issues and struggles to find USD to make payment to Kiva. Our team is in contact with the organization, and we expect to see payments come in in the coming months. We will share more information on this page as it becomes available.

Status update — February 3, 2017

Due to economic difficulties and hyperinflation in Suriname, SEVA Microfinance Institute is facing cash flow issues and has failed to meet its payment obligations to Kiva lenders since August 2016. The partnership has been paused as our team works with them to develop a repayment plan for the amount owed to Kiva lenders. We will post more information to this page as it becomes available.

Partner Description:

Seva Network Foundation (Seva NL) is an international organization based in the Netherlands that promotes entrepreneurship in poor and marginalized communities in developing countries. Additionally, Seva NL works with diaspora communities in the Netherlands who are interested in starting businesses in their countries of origin.

Seva NL created Stichting Seva Micro Finance Institute (Seva MFI) in 2004 in Suriname. The original objective was to conduct a project called “Silent Poverty, the forgotten workers of Nickerie and Saramacca” following the closure of the important Surland farm in 2002, which resulted in 5,000 workers being laid off.

Suriname’s districts of Nickerie and Saramacca are home to the country’s traditional granaries – these fertile coastlands mainly produce rice and bananas. Seva NL started investigating potential microcredit needs in these districts, which led to the creation of Seva MFI in 2009 for rice farmers in the district of Nickerie.

Seva NL also actively supports the Millennium Development Goals by working toward sustainable poverty reduction worldwide. To that end, Seva NL carries out projects in areas of education, microfinance, agricultural development and community-building in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This explains the origination of Seva MFI in Suriname.

Kiva lenders’ funds expand Seva MFI's outreach to rice farmers in the Nickerie district in Suriname, where the organization focuses its activities.

A unique lending approach:

Suriname’s microfinance sector is poorly developed, and rural borrowers are often deemed too risky by traditional financial institutions to get access to financial resources. Seva MFI has entered this underserved market with loans that enable farmers to purchase pesticides, fertilizer, farming tools and equipment.

Seva MFIs goal is to help these vulnerable farmers become sustainable and successful entrepreneurs who can eventually qualify for commercial loans through banks. Moving forward, Seva MFI also intends to progressively “move inland” and reach out to other financially excluded and geographically isolated populations located in Suriname’s Amazon rain forest.

Seva MFI concentrates its lending activities in the Nickerie district. The organization is quite small in size; it currently has one office based in Nieuw Nickerie staffed with one coordinator and two loan officers. Their job is to assess financial needs for rice farmers in the area in order to purchase tools, equipment and fertilizer for the sowing season. In 2012, they successfully disbursed over 650 loans.