OREANDA-NEWS. December 08, 2014. Kompanion Financial Group continues to contribute to the development of communities and finds high international recognition of its activities. In November 2014, Kompanion became the first organization in Central Asia to have the honor of winning the 5th European Microfinance Award.
 
The European Award is granted to financial institutions for their innovative ideas in the field of microfinance with a view to promote best practices.
 
This year, 26 organizations from 19 countries presented their projects aimed at finding new solutions to global environmental problems. participated in the fifth European Award on Microfinance and the Environment. As noted by the organizing team, environmental changes affect the poorest people in developing countries and the participants have demonstrated that financial inclusion and environmental sustainability can go hand-in-hand.
 
Kompanion was selected based upon its Pasture Land Management initiative aimed at preservation of pasture lands and mitigation of soil degradation risks. This is an important program as land is the principal income source for rural people with 70 percent of pasture lands in Kyrgyzstan currently in a degraded condition.
 
It is worth noting that Kompanion is the only microfinance organization in Kyrgyzstan to have 32 highly skilled in-house agronomists and veterinarians who ensure that rural people have access to knowledge that will promote enhancing the financial strength of communities. By offering financial products and appropriate education through the program, the Pasture Land Management initiative is aimed to increase awareness by the population about pasture degradation problems, over-grazing on pastures near villages and under-grazing in remote pastures. Since the launch of the program in 2011, more than 24,000 Kompanion clients have received training, gaining knowledge and skills that helped them to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers by 18 percent and increase their income from cattle by 30 percent.
 
“Kompanion attaches great importance to the expansion and explanation of complex, ethno-ecological approaches when addressing environmental issues and ecosystems for the rational use of pastures, which make up 89 percent of all agricultural land in Kyrgyzstan. This highest award is an indicator that we are moving in the right direction, focusing on our development initiatives,” commented Ulanbek Termechikov, Kompanion’s CEO.
 
This is the second time Kompanion has been selected as a finalist for this award. In 2012 Kompanion was among the finalists for Household Development Initiative which is aimed at improving food security and biodiversity conservation which in long-term outlook is due to benefit both for food ration improvement and development of ecological and rational land management.
 
The European Microfinance award is conducted every two years and is a joint effort among the Luxemburg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the European Investment Bank, the Luxemburg Microfinance Round Table, and the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), assembling 114 international financial institutions.