Kenya-Uganda Study Tour: Learning About Successful Microfinance Models

This is a field note on a study tour organized by Microfinance Development (MD) team within USAID's Bureau of Economic Growth and Trade (EGAT) to Kenya and Uganda. The topic for the tour was rural finance to benefit the Missions in Rwanda and Congo, and it took place from April 14-23, 2004.

The note lists the following objectives of the tour:

• To facilitate the visitors' understanding of success factors in microfinance initiatives in Kenya and Uganda;
• To provide exposure to microfinance networks, national projects and practitioner organizations;
• To learn from USAID microfinance interventions in Kenya and Uganda.

The field note describes:

• Visits made by the participants to donor organizations, MFIs, banks and associations;
• Reflection and application sessions facilitated by a local consultant.

The note records enthusiastic feedback from the participants demonstrated during the tour voicing that:

• "The tour gave the participants an opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned with USAID partners implementing microfinance interventions;"
• "Learnings from the tour will help the participants improve implementation of microfinance programs in their own countries."

The note concludes that the success of the first 'Mission to Mission Study Tour' indicates that it should be replicated across missions, regions sectors and sub-sectors, paving the way for collaborative learning and information sharing.