Our Malawian partner Tradeline supports smallholder farmers and their organizations. To strengthen the position of these farmers Tradeline focuses on facilitating market access, and offers business development support and financial services. To reach the farmers population a microfinance institution was founded in 2012n named Cofi. In order to be able to grow and meet the needs of a broader client group Exchange and BRS worked together with Tradeline en Cofi.

BRS vzw is an organization of the cooperative Cera and KBC. It involves highly trained volunteers to share this cooperative and banking knowledge with microfinance institutions in the South. Marc Bautmans is a passionate BRS volunteer, with extensive international experience and motivated to coach microfinance professionals in the South. Marc travelled to Lilongwe in Malawi and worked with the Cofi team on their growth strategy and improving their internal organization.  Marc was impressed by the professional organization of Cofi and as a hobby farmer he easily connected with the clients of the institution. He literally worked between bags of seeds (part of the loans is paid in seeds instead of cash) and enjoyed the lively contacts with clients visiting the office to repay their loans. Marc will continue to support and coach the Cofi team. Special thanks to BRS for making this collaboration possible!