Partner Description:

Asociación Arariwa is a large non-governmental organization that started offering microcredit in 1994 to improve the quality of life, skills and equity of the population in the rural Cusco region of Peru.

With a market presence spanning the Cusco, Arequipa, Puno, Apurimac and Madre de Dios regions, Arariwa provides financial and business development services to approximately 14,000 low-income entrepreneurs. The organization is distinguished by its efforts to reach the very poor, who often live in isolated rural communities located four to five hours outside major cities or at altitudes above 4,000 meters.

In addition to disbursing loans, Arariwa fosters village banking, supports savings accounts, promotes access to education, and empowers women entrepreneurs (who make up 78% of its borrowers). The organization's services are tailor-made for micro-enterprise owners who prefer to borrow in groups.

By encouraging development of village banks, Arariwa seeks to create a space where low-income borrowers can learn to generate their own savings, profit from the earned interest, and share experiences and business advice with one another. Today, it supports more than 1,000 village banks in Peru.

Arariwa constantly strives to serve more niche and vulnerable populations. Recent initiatives include a program to assist people with disabilities, and participation in a pilot project to help Peru's poorest citizens lift themselves out of poverty.

Over the next three years, Arariwa will work toward the following goals:

 

As part of an ongoing effort to fully migrate risk ratings to our new and enhanced risk rating system, Kiva has conducted a re-assessment of the level of risk posed by this institution. During this re-assessment, our analysts were able to gather updated operational and financial information about the institution, as well as speak with key members of the staff. 

 

The information gathered during this process, together with the Kiva's new risk rating system and half-star support, has led us to revise Asociación Arariwa's risk rating from 5 to 3 stars. The analysts have found that Asociación Arariwa's risk variables, reviewed in the new risk rating model, were most representative of a 3-Star rating.

 

We have published a blog post with more information on Kiva's new and enhanced risk rating system, along with a chart showing the relative magnitude of the overall changes for Kiva's portfolio. Asociación Arariwa has been informed of our analysts’ findings and their corresponding change in rating.