Status update — July 24, 2015

After 43 months on Kiva and 454 loans fundraised, Sistema.bio has graduated out of Kiva’s Experimental Partnership program and been given a risk rating of 1.5 stars. 

Partner description:

Sistema.bio (legal name: Buen Manejo del Campo) manufactures and distributes small-scale, affordable biodigester systems that transform livestock waste into organic fertilizer for crops and biogas for cooking, heat and electricity.  

The company believes that small, sustainable farms are the key to food security and economic prosperity in rural areas. To support these farmers, Sistema.bio not only sells its equipment, it also trains rural families on how to use the biodigesters in order to process their waste and create energy.  

Sistema.bio offers a loan program to help farmers spread out their payments for biodigesters over a period of six or more months, allowing the system to “pay for itself” during the repayment period. These 0% interest loans are valuable to rural families that could never otherwise afford the high upfront costs of biodigesters, no matter how much they might save in the long run. Kiva loans provide a source risk-tolerant, flexible capital to help these farmers purchase Sistema.bio equipment.

Sistema.bio saves farmers money by replacing costly sources of energy and damaging chemical fertilizers. After loans are repaid, these savings continue. This financing program is promoted through local education programs that also teach farmers how to install and maintain their biodigesters. 

Sistema.bio provides several other distinct benefits:

1) Better health: Biogas displaces wood fuel for cooking, reducing exposure to indoor air contamination -- a major cause of respiratory health issues and the related deaths of millions of women and children worldwide.

2) Cleaner drinking water: Both animal waste and chemical fertilizers increase nitrogen and organic loading in drinking water and local watersheds, a source of enteric diseases and other health issues. Biodigesters provide a waste treatment solution that displaces these fertilizers.

3) Improved productivity: Biogas provides a free source of energy that allows farmers to diversify their products by making other goods like cheese and yogurt. High volumes of organic fertilizers produced by biodigesters also allow them to improve crop productivity while reducing expenses.

4) Quality of life: Biodigesters consume and contain livestock waste, eliminating unpleasant odors and insects.

5) Environmental sustainability: In general, biodigesters cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, prevent watershed contamination, and reduce deforestation. 

When aggregated, these benefits can have a major positive impact on whole communities, regions -- and even globally.

Sistema.bio’s loan program began in early 2011, built on the fact that economic savings made possible by biodigesters could be used to pay back loans. However, because the company’s core business is not microfinance -- and because its partnership with Kiva is unique and unprecedented -- Kiva is unable to assign it a risk rating.