Breaking the circle of poverty

More than 1.000 million unbanked farmers are trapped within a vicious circle difficult to leave: their low income barely covers for basic subsistence needs, thus preventing them from saving to invest in improving their productivity; and because they cannot improve productivity, income remains low.

The main tool to break free from this circle is to provide access to reasonable interest rate loans for increasing productivity to such an extent they are capable of both things: paying such debt and investing again to raise such productivity.

At EthicHub we believe providing access to affordable financing for the unbanked is not enough: it is equally important to ensure the proper use of that money; If the loan is used to buy a television instead of investing it on improving productivity, it will become just a debt that worsens their economic situation.

To look for the positive impact of money is part of the commitment we assumed by getting a name like EthicHub: We are not just a P2P lending platform, but also a social network to create value for all parties.

That’s why we consider essential for EthicHub Local Nodes to receive constant training so they are able to carry on a suitable follow-up work and they can also help their communities to improve in three major areas:

Productivity Improvement.

Applying fertilizers, doing cultivation works on time and orderly (cleaning, shading, trimming and pruning) and planting varieties of higher productivity and more pest resistant. On the long-term, even installing automated irrigation and fertilization systems.

Crop diversification.

Even with a good productivity, monoculture remains exposed to the risks of market, weather and pest that may affect their production. Proper crop diversification may allow for a stable income level.

Improved sale conditions.

Due to the small volume and lack of market information, farmers seldom sell at the best possible prices. EthicHub will take care to provide information on markets price and will help to gather volumes in order to optimize sale prices. In the medium and long term we have the vision of helping farmers to organize themselves to process their crops and even to trade them. Within EthicHub’s social network there are many lovers of coffee, cocoa, tea, etc., and we are sure they want to finance Gerardo (our example farmer) but also they’d like to buy his products.

EthicHub Philosophical layer

EthicHub has a technological layer and a business layer, but we want to be recognized by our mission and values layer: the philosophy behind the project. EthicHub has been created up from the ground believing the new financial system must be more inclusive, fair and therefore sustainable, because we believe mutual benefit is the true driver of economic development.

Our mission is democratizing access to credit and best investment opportunities while humanizing credit sector at the same time.
Our values are equal opportunity; community, because a token only has value if there is a community that believe in it; and trust, because in order to convince investors to lend their money to people at the opposite side of the world, everything is about building trust between borrowers and lenders.

Stronger community

As I wrote in another article, thanks to blockchain we are shifting from Capital based economics to Community based economics.

We believe if we remain committed and we act aligned with our philosophical layer, the community will be stronger, turning then into a real competitive advantage.

In addition to the fertile soil this layer suppose for community building, it is easier to gather a long-term committed community around a positive impact project. A real decentralized governance will also contribute to build this community as I explained in this article.

Technology is easy to copy and paste; business models can be imitated; but a long-term supportive community can’t be forged so it remains the most valuable asset for a project.

Written by @joriarmbruster , CEO of Ethichub.