Haiti's banking system does not allow the majority of the population living in rural areas to access credit to create small and medium enterprises. Under these conditions, it is difficult for the rural world, especially for peasant women, to develop agriculture and open up small and medium-sized enterprises that are necessary for the survival of their families and that of their communities. Solidarity  credit unions created and led by women areh is the most inclusive and participatory mode of cooperatives where they put together their resoures to establish a system where all members develop their own businesses without resorting to loan sharks as it used to ben. As all solidarity credit union's members can equaly reap the benenfits, their inveestments are likely help improve basic services that are essential for the well-being of all farming communities. This type of solidarity that our organization favors is a solidarity that must help women farmers to help themselves in the short and long term.

 

As some experts have pointed out, "most of the resources we seek elsewhere (central government, NGOs, diaspora) already exist in our communities. In order to make good use of these resources, we need more and more women in leadership positions within the business sector. For AFPA, the solution to the lack of access to financial resources is the creation of solidarity credit unions in all rural communities in the country, especially in the most remote villages.

 

The credit unions we are promoting allows members of our communities, especially women who have freely chosen to join in to achieve similar goals by pooling their financial resources. Even at very a limited level, there are some communities in the country who have already had positive results with this approach to cooperatives. As for localities that will try this new approach, they will benefit from the experience gained by other communities in doing so. The role of AFPA in strengthening and creating solidarity credit unions in all rural communities across Haiti.