Kiva Field Partner Juhudi Kilimo has been nominated by Changemakers and Artemisia as a model of how to build the field of social business. Juhudi qualified as one of 448 entries from 78 countries as an outstanding demonstration of innovation, social impact, and sustainability.

Vote now until August 11 to help them win $5000. The winner will be announced on August 18th.

Juhudi Kilimo is an innovative social enterprise working with small-holder farmers in Kenya. They became a Kiva Field Partner in January 2010 and have already posted over $250,000 in loans on Kiva....

Jenny Jin, KF 11- Kenya, KADET

In Kabarnet, a town situated on the mountain tops of Western Kenya, I spent a day with Irene, a credit officer, to meet KADET’s client groups living in this area. At the end of the day, I was tired but happy from all the people I had the pleasure to meet. One young woman, at the young age of 28, was earning less than $2 a day and supporting 8 orphan children in addition to her own two kids.  Wow!

Towards the end of our last meeting with a women’s group, one of the clients, Albina, gave an impromptu...

By Jeremy Gordon, KF11 and Rachel Brooks, KF10, Kenya

“Esther Keino hopes Juhudi will consider giving loans without requiring solidarity groups in future as group lending is sometimes discouraging because not all members are reliable.”

“Peter is grateful Juhudi Kilimo is focusing on the rural poor who would otherwise have limited or no access to capital. He likes the funding for dairy cows as it is not just for financial purposes but also for social purposes, as it improves the health of families.”

Kiva entrepreneurs can often be a little uncomfortable...

By Steve Grey, KF11, Kenya

I recently attended a 4-hour training session for new clients of SMEP, one of Kiva’s lending partners in Kenya.  SMEP did a great job helping these new borrowers understand how the microfinance lending process works and what their responsibilities are as members of 15-person borrower groups.

But it was one of the meeting management techniques that intrigued me.  At the beginning of the 4-hour session (with no break!), the leader asked the 100+ attendees to come up with rules for the...