Microfinance Program
On November 29, 2008, the Jack Brewer Foundation (JBF), in collaboration with the Joyce Banda Foundation (JBF), launched the JBF/JBF Microfinance Initiative in the Domasi Village of Malawi. The Initiative’s mission is
to collaborate with Malawi’s Vice President, the Honorable Joyce Banda, to expand microfinance efforts within her home country of Malawi.
Currently, the microfinance initiative is providing loans to over 1,000 families and positively impacting over 10,000 individuals. Our goal is to provide ample food for the 200,000 residents living in the Domasi
region by 2012.
It was an amazing experience at the launch of JBF/JBF to hear the testimonies and experiences of participants locked up in poverty but now determined to change their situation through this rare opportunity of getting the loans that will help them realize food security.
– Joyce Banda, Vice President, Malawi
The majority of loans amount to less than $10 US, and provide sufficient resources for a family to purchase government-subsidized fertilizer which will triple their harvest over an entire agricultural season.
Women are the focal point of our efforts because they continue to be disadvantaged by local cultural beliefs; such practices obstruct these women being able to meaningfully contribute to the economic livelihood
of their villages. This mentality has hindered them from developing the ability to achieve financial independence, thereby teaching their children to do the same.
We believe that progress must begin with mothers and our initiative provides the means for these women to empower themselves, their families and their villages.
Please help JBF as we expand the microfinance program in Malawi and develop similar funds throughout Africa and Haiti.