“Yes, surely members will have trouble making repayments from time to time, and we are not always 100% current. However, there is absolutely no concern from me that our money is at risk. It is always safe, because of the strength of the group and our ability to assess the ability to repay before agreeing to give a member her loan.”
They speak with their own VOICE.
To form groups, Rojiroti...
A service for the poorest of the poor
Gaining ground
... a tool for the extremely poor to improve their livelihoods
It fosters financial literacy.
It allows clients to make their own choices.
It reaches the poorest of the poor.
People who don't have enough money to eat, who are too sick to work, who belong to disadvantaged castes have little to no access to traditional microfinance, which limits borrowing to business-generating activities. 

But if you're sick or hungry, how can you start a business?
Members are:
98% women
80% landless or nearly landless
5% widow
Rojiroti is...
reduced vulnerability
This means less dependence on moneylenders, who charge very high interest rates, and fewer instances of distress selling.
For instance, a Rojiroti client can take out a loan rather than sell a productive asset like a cow to pay for an emergency expense.
increased incomes
Better health and more food means increased productivity.
Sharecroppers become leasers, gaining greater shares in the profits.
Clients gradually develop businesses. Installing tubewells means
they can raise pigs; purchasing poultry means eggs and meat to sell.
Installing tubewells not only means increased incomes. Disadvantaged caste members risk discrimination and injury when they travel to public wells.
empowerment
Women who take part in self-help groups and "produce" much needed loans are seen as making an economic contribution to the household. They gain more power at home, becoming familiar with their household income and expenditure. Importantly, Rojiroti's female clients report fewer instances of domestic violence.
education
Rojiroti clients' children are more likely to attend school, and more receive private tutoring, especially children of marginalized caste members.
impact on the marginalized
The most disadvantaged and marginalized group members see the greatest improvements. They're more likely than other group members to move away from borrowing to eat. They're more likely to pay for private tutoring for their children, and marginalized women make the largest gains in knowledge of household expenditure and freedom to travel.
Rojiroti serves clients who are more poor, more disadvantaged, and more in need than traditional microfinancers.
What Rojiroti means...
Rojiroti
Building a path out of poverty
Poverty is more than lack of money...
It's lack of VOICE.
partners with community members
lets them make decisions
and empowers the voiceless
Group members decide...
how much each contributes
to group savings
how to lend money
from their group fund
how to pay and collect interest
Once the group is established and mature, members may receive larger loans from Rojiroti headquarters.
allowing Rojiroti to keep its staff small while reaching rural communities
Rojiroti clients live in the unbanked rural villages of Northern India.
Rojiroti reaches more marginalized caste members than other microfinancers
Roughly 30% of the rest of the industry's clients are lower caste
62% of Rojiroti members are lower caste
An avenue to a better life
[self-help group member Meena, when asked what the group meant to her]
“Because… what if? If I’m feeling a bit sick tomorrow, and need some immediate financial help, then what??”
[SHG member Lalpari
when asked, “Why are you still saving? You’ve gotten what you need from these loans and this group.”]
"She did note, as a lively discussion in the group broke out, that her daughter-in-law went to a hospital for the delivery of her second child after the home delivery of her first child. This decision was a result of dialog between the group members advising Rajkali that it was not as safe to elect for home delivery and that the benefits of a hospital delivery were worth the cost."
[excerpt from the Rojiroti Impact Case Studies]
"... Rajkali explained that the group provides her with security to keep investments intact, as she now owns a buffalo and a handful of pigs, which have remained protected from potential fire sales when these medical shocks come about."
[excerpt from the Rojiroti Impact Case Studies, on the empowerment and benefits of group membership]
Protection of assets:
"Another important effect this group has had on Sunita is her own personal empowerment, as she demonstrated to us through a story about her ability to negotiate. One of her previous share buffalo was being fixed up for its price with the owner, and the number came to Rs. 18,000. At this point Sunita was going to keep the buffalo and pay the Rs. 9,000 to buy out the owner’s share. However, at the last minute, the owner tried to raise the price of the animal, claiming the price was now 24,000 rupees. Sunita held her ground firmly, refusing to accept the last-minute trickery/exploitation and told the owner, 'I will only accept the price of 24,000 if YOU buy the buffalo and give me Rs. 12,000.' After some debate, the owner relented, and kept the buffalo for a price to Sunita of 12,000 rupees."
"As Rajkali is a member of the scheduled caste, the social implications of using other villagers’ hand pumps can be very challenging if not impossible (higher caste members will not share or accept food/water from scheduled caste members), and having her own for personal use is a tremendous family asset.
Not only was it difficult to have to walk the long distance to the nearest public pump in the village after dark or when carrying large quantities of water, but income can be dependent on it, often in the case of rearing pigs or other livestock.
Without a large loan in the amount of 3,000 rupees, she noted it is likely she would have just postponed purchasing a tubewell indefinitely as the purchase seemed an impossibility without the help of a Rojiroti loan to cover a large portion of the cost."
Rojiroti clients start with small loans from their group's fund...
*100 rupees
for emergency medical treatment
*50 rupees
for food and kerosene
*or
500 rupees
for seeds and fertilizer
Then clients make larger investments...
5,000 rupees
to buy a buffalo
3,000 rupees
to install
a tubewell
or 1,000 rupees
to fix a roof
A better house means...
People, food and livestock
are protected from the rain...
are healthier...
... are more productive.
That's more than DOUBLE
the industry standard
Rojiroti gives the poor tools to build their own paths out of poverty.
They make their own decisions.
Find a more detailed assessment of Rojiroti's impact here: http://rojiroti.org/index.php?section=10
www.rojiroti.org
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rojiroti/215149585212399
They're tied to the land.
Most Rojiroti clients are farmers.
Rojiroti members find in their groups a venue to listen and share, and reassurance that in an emergency they have someone to turn to.
[the importance of a house]
Growing across northeastern India
A new approach to microfinance where clients lead the way
Bihar, India's poorest state, is Rojiroti's heartland.
[excerpt from the Rojiroti Impact Case Studies]
[excerpt from the Rojiroti Impact Case Studies]