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Plant With Purpose and HOPE International partner to bring regenerative agriculture and environmental restoration to savings groups

November 10, 2020

Nov. 10, 2020

Plant With Purpose and HOPE International are excited to announce a new strategic partnership that merges the strengths of both organizations to bring regenerative agriculture and environmental restoration to equip rural families to grow out of poverty. This joint initiative in Burundi is an exciting initial opportunity for collaboration and learning, and both organizations are excited to explore additional opportunities to work together.

The partnership launches this September in Burundi. Plant With Purpose will train 1,850 farmers who are members of HOPE’s local savings groups in regenerative agriculture. The partnership will focus on collaborative program implementation, innovation, research, and evaluation for shared learning and impact.

Both organizations expect that this will be just the start of a fruitful collaboration. HOPE’s savings groups will gain access to regenerative agriculture training, which, in combination with savings groups, have proven to have a substantial impact on poverty reduction and financial resilience in rural communities.

Plant With Purpose gains the opportunity to extend its core program model to a larger population of people in an innovative and efficient way. Jared White, Plant With Purpose Regional Partnerships Manager, Africa says, "The thought of many more rural farmers that depend on the land for their families’ survival, who will benefit from this partnership, brings great joy and enthusiasm to our collaborative initiative."

The partnership will also develop a joint monitoring and evaluation framework, which allows all four participating organizations...HOPE International, Plant With Purpose, HOPE Burundi, and Floresta Burundi (Plant With Purpose’s local partner)... to learn from the experience and unique strengths of each other. We prayerfully believe that the training and support provided to these farmers will contribute to increased flourishing for individuals, households, and the environment.

“An exciting aspect of this partnership was that it was first pursued at the local level,” said Josh Meyer, Sr. Director of SG Programs at HOPE International. “Burundian leadership from both organizations enthusiastically supported working together. The more discussions we had, the more it was clear a global partnership made strategic sense. We are so thrilled to enter into this partnership with Plant with Purpose, a recognized leader in this sector. We are strategically and missionally aligned in our prayerful pursuit of holistic transformation in the communities where we serve. We believe there is so much to be learned from this partnership including best practices in regenerative agriculture, savings group methodology, technology application, and so much more. We wait with anticipation as the work begins!”

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About Plant With Purpose

Plant With Purpose has dedicated over 35 years to finding the most effective solution to the challenges of rural poverty. Through years of systematic community-led innovation, Plant With Purpose developed a Christ-centered program model that equips families to grow out of poverty and also reverses the structural and environmental root causes of rural poverty. This model transforms entire watersheds by combining spiritual renewal, regenerative agriculture, savings groups, and environmental restoration. Through the watershed approach, Plant With Purpose partnering families experience a two-thirds reduction in their level of poverty .

About HOPE International

Since 2007, HOPE has been partnering with churches around the world to promote holistic savings group programs and now supports a network of over 650,000 group members in 10 countries. Savings groups are a holistic approach combining group savings and lending with discipleship and a community of support. These groups have proved extremely valuable to individuals and households who lack a safe place to save and access to credit, and who are often isolated from a supportive community. Savings groups are self-governing: they make their own policies, elect leaders, receive ongoing training, and meet on a regular basis. Group members also agree on an amount to save each month/week, and after a few months, members can apply for loans from the group’s pooled savings – a valuable service for many group members who would otherwise not be able to access small loans elsewhere. Facilitated by the local church, savings groups help members to grow in relationships as they study the Bible and consider how they can support one another and impact their community.

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