The principles of revolving funds is simply this that a community is given a credit to buy what they deem most needed and then pay in a certain manner to enable others to benefit.
Several of our projects listed below use the revolving fund principle
In goats projects in Indonesia and Kenya the principle is that the farmers receiving the goats must pay back to the community 1:5 to 2 of the offspring of the first two pregnancies. These are then given to other members of the community. When the goat population is sufficient for the resources available they can turn the money into a type of village bank where money can be borrowed for purchases of other things eg. chickens etc. and the interest can be used for village projects or events eg. weddings, funerals etc.
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Goat sheds in the village |
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Left: weighing the goat kids before giving to another farmer to benefit. Right: happy new owners. |
In the pig project in Vietnam a loan is given to buy a pregnant sow. This money has to be paid back after one year at which time another community member can get the loan to purchase a pregnant sow.
Another quite unique but with similar endpoints is a couple of paddle tractors donated to two villages in Lombok Island in Indonesia . The paddle tractors are used to speed up cultivation but farmers pay for the service to the community. Sixty percent of the income is used to purchase calves or cattle which are then given to farmers on an agreed revolving fund basis effectively a dual purpose revolving fund |
 Tractors from the fund to a Lombok village are used to generate cash as fund for other needs. |