Rabobank and Bles Dairies joined a Business Partnership Election. This Partnership Election is an initiative of The Punchy Pack, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and FMO. Of 200 entries, 10 entries/companies were selected and battled with a pitch to achieve the title of “Best New Partnership”. The winner will realize a sustainable project. The objective is to convert international challenges as water, nutrition and climate into business opportunities. On the 11th of May the winning entry was announced: Rabobank and Bles Dairies won the award of “Best New Partnership”!
Access to credit
Team Rabobank introduced an idea for a better way of financing the dairy-beef cow industry supply chain in emerging markets. More concretely: Rabobank & Bles Dairies will set up a financing project in Kenya, enabling farmers to increase and improve their milk production. The project is all about access to credit: how can poor smallholder farmers gain access to credit? Subsidy funds are abundant but these create only a stimulus and provide aid to a limited extent. These funds do not contribute to the real development of a country. Private money will encourage the farmers to manage their money in a better way.
Lowering risks
Granting credit implies risks, which will be the highest for the bank which supplies the credit. Therefore risk assessments are necessary and are constantly of key importance. A crucial question is: how to manage these risks down to as low a level as reasonably possible? Team Rabobank proposed the idea to take the cows as collateral and to follow them using a GPS-tracking system. By tracking cows more transparency and security in the chain will be created, resulting in less risk for the bank. This control system will ensure the bank to have more control over the cows and thus, on their granted loan.
Bles Dairies
Rabobank will provide access to finance for smallholders with a value chain finance scheme. Bles Dairies, in turn, will help farmers with supply, advice and training to grow their production. This includes the provision of cattle, semen, machinery, etc. After sales support is also an important component of our input. By providing post sales consultancy services potential risks are kept as small as possible.
Since Bles Dairies specializes in dairy development, we are keen about this project. This marvelous plan to support dairy farmers in developing countries reflects Bles Dairies’ approach and vision perfectly. For high quality milk production to feed the world!
Unique and groundbreaking idea
Both public votes and professional jury votes determined the winning entry. The expert jury was especially excited about the innovative idea of a track and trace system. Moreover, according to the jury our business case was also the most concrete one. If the GPS track and trace system will be developed well, this unique idea can be groundbreaking for credit facilities to farmers in developing countries. At present, Team Rabobank is working hard to further develop the business case.
Thank you all for your votes! This award provides Rabobank and Bles Dairies a great opportunity to set up a sustainable project in Kenya. Want to read more or want to watch our pitch again? https://www.departnershipverkiezing.nl/bestnewpartnership/rabobank-moovement/