"THE RABOBANK
FOUNDATION SEEKS TO
IMPROVE THE LOT OF
THOSE SHORT ON
OPPORTUNITIESBOTH
IN THE NETHERLANDS
AS FAR ABROAD"
Partner banks
Rabo Development currently participates in the following financial institutions
14 issue 15 .MUAfiïj THE WORD
Because the activities in developing countries of the Rabobank
Foundation, Rabo Development and Rabobank International
take place in close parallel, their employees also work closely
together. 'The Rabobank Foundation organises local farmers and
craftsmen to join together to create financial muscle", confirms
Bart Jan Krouwel. 'Then Rabo Development provides financing
for the co-operatives via their partner banks". At the same time,
Rabobank International assists in providing their multinational
clients the opportunity to buythe products ofthefarming
co-operatives. An interesting synergy; and it is growing. "We
deliberately reduced the work domain of the Rabobank Founda
tion from 70 to 25 countries so we could concentrate on the
areas in which Rabo Development or Rabobank International are
operating, and make use of their local staff", explains Krouwel. In
the future, the three Rabo operations will increasingly be tackling
projects in developing countries together.
Success Formula
The way in which Rabobank Foundation, Rabo Development and Rabo
International usually work together is known as the "Unilever model". The
story is as follows: years ago, Rabo International cliënt Unilever wanted
to import a special type of soya bean from Indonesia to make a special
Soya sauce. Unilever was not in the position to do business directly with
the many disparate smaller growers who grew and supplied them. The
Rabobank Foundation organised the growers involved into co-operatives
with the help of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) on the spot. As a
result, Unilever could do volume business with the co-operatives equitably,
effïciently and profïtably. Later on, this success formula was extended to
numerous products in many other countries. So in areas where it operates,
Rabo Development finances the farmer co-operatives through its partner
banks.
Bank
Country
Share
Offices
Staff
Balance sheet total
million)
NMB
Tanzania
35
120
1,900
580
URCB
China
10
120
1,200
3,500
ZNCB
Zambia
49
50
1,100
260
Banco Regional
Paraguay
40
15
200
170
Banco Terra 1)
Mozambique
30
-
-
-
1Banco Terra is a new bank that started in October
Bart Jan Krouwel, Managing Director
Corporate Social Responsibility