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 - April 19, 2021:

The Bolivian government has implemented loan payment moratoriums since the beginning of the pandemic. Those moratoriums have been extended twice and are currently set to expire in June of this year. However, they may be extended again. The result of these moratoriums is that our Lending Partners in Bolivia have received only limited repayments from their clients. For this reason, it is likely that your repayments for loans from our Lending Partners in Bolivia will continue to be delayed.

June 9, 2020 - COVID-19 Update:

Kiva has been in contact with CIDRE to understand how we can best support their business and borrowers during the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of all staff, borrowers and their families as this global pandemic continues.

While country-specific responses to the crisis vary, most governments have imposed curfews, travel restrictions, and nation-wide shutdowns. Bolivia has imposed temporary moratoriums on loan payments, affecting not only microfinance, but the economy as a whole. 

As a result, borrowers and CIDRE may experience difficulty making and collecting loan repayments due to the aforementioned restrictions or fallout effects of the virus. Over the coming months, it’s possible that lenders will see a delay in repayments and new loans posted by CIDRE. As an impact-first funder, Kiva is committed to serving our Lending Partners, as in past crises. We are sympathetic to temporary increases in repayment delays and delinquency in order to help Lending Partners and borrower communities recover. 

Kiva is working closely with CIDRE to support them and their borrowers through the COVID-19 crisis. CIDRE is sending regular updates to Kiva, and we'll update Partner Pages as we learn more. 

On behalf of Kiva and CIDRE, we’re grateful for your continued support through this difficult time. 

Status Update - December 2019

Protests have been on-going in Bolivia due to the contested elections on October 20th. There have been street demonstrations and road blockages across much of the country. Unfortunately, the protests and other demonstrations have resulted in the loss of life and impacted the economy of Bolivia. However, some stability has returned to the country and new elections have been announced for early in 2020. We have been in contact with our partners and are currently monitoring the situation closely as Kiva borrowers and partner staff have been affected by the unrest. This might result in an increase in delinquency rates since a lot of informal economic activities have been impacted. As more information comes in, we will update lenders accordingly.

Partner description:

CIDRE is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that supports and contributes to the development of the farming and livestock sector in rural regions of Bolivia. Its vision is to be a leading entity in the provision of financial services, characterized by providing efficient service with sound ethics, creativity, and social engagement with the community.

Currently, CIDRE’s projects are active in five of Bolivia’s nine states, principally in rural areas and on the outskirts of municipalities — areas where they also work to promote regional development. 89% of its loan portfolio is invested in rural areas, and 49% of these clients work in farming, livestock, and dairy production.

CIDRE offers several different types of loan products to its clients. These include business loans, housing credit, consumer credit, individual microcredit, associational microcredit and collateral-based credit.Business loans are intended to satisfy credit requests from people or businesses who want to borrow $10,000 or more to use for operations or working capital. This loan product is broken down into two categories: production/services and commercial.

On the personal front, housing credit is used for the purchase, construction, renovation, or remodeling of a home, which is used as collateral for the loan. The consumer credit product was designed to meet the needs of individuals for expenditures on consumer goods, payments for services, travel, study, emergencies, remodeling, renovations, and others.

Individual microcredit is designed to provide necessary working or investment capital for farmers, micro-entrepreneurs, or self-employed workers. This product is broken down into two categories: individual microcredit for production and services, and individual microcredit for commerce. And the associational microcredit is designed to finance communal investment. The loan is taken out by group members, who collectively take on the responsibility of paying the group’s debt.

Lastly, the collateral-based credit product is designed to provide working, investment, or consumer capital to farmers, micro-entrepreneurs, or self-employed workers, involving CIDRE or a third-party taking custody of certain products as loan collateral.

Images courtesy of CIDRE.