Multiplying
Opportunities
Through Trusted Partners and Empowered Clients Opportunity International Global Report, Fall 202 For more than 50 years, Opportunity International has help ed millions of people living in poverty build livelihoods, increase their incomes, and create better futures for themselves and their children. The landscape has changed: t oday, only 1 in 10 human beings go to sleep hungry. In 1990, just 36 years ago , that number was 1 in 3! Even as we celebrate this success, we recognize that the last mile is usually the hardest. We must ensure our model becomes even more effective: deploying more resources, reaching more clients, delivering better solutions for sustained impact. Thank you for walking with us on the journey beyond poverty to lives of dignity and opportunity. - Atul Tandon, Chief Executive Officer, Opportunity International Multiplying Opportunities ► In 28 countries, including 12 of the countries with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty, we partner with 148 local financial institutions to pave a path out of poverty toward sustainable livelihoods for more than 16 million people . Every partnership, every training, every dollar donated creates exponential impact.
Namulondo, farmer and savings group member, Uganda
Accelerating Livelihoods ► Financial inclusion is a significant lever of change, yet our work encompasses more than “just loans.” Wrap -around services of customized training, group support, savings, and loans are the tools to build a path to truly sustainable livelihoods. As reported in our 2025 Impact Report , outcomes such as increased income, improved harvests, and keeping more children in school result in more resilient families and communities. Building Resilience ► Our organizational theory of change illustrates the connection between our core activities and ultimate outcomes of resilience and opportunity, moving people from poverty toward sustainable livelihoods. The people we serve face multi -dimensional challenges —poverty of resources, education, information, connection, health —and we meet our clients where they are, with holistic long -term solutions to empower their success. Before joining an Opportunity savings group, Namulondo (pictured above ) relied on farming to support her family, yet she struggled with low yields, paying school fees, and feeding her children . Through training provided by an Opportunity Farmer Support Agent, she learned good agricultural practices, financial and business literacy, and household planning. Her harvest increased from five to 24 100 -kilogram bags of maize per season; she diversifed her income by adding coffee, bananas, and poultry. She increased her weekly savings and gained access to capital to reinvest in her farm. Now her children attend school regularly and the family has more regular access to food and healthcare.
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Work in Progress Agriculture Finance Often when we meet our farming clients, they are unable to meet basic needs like food, shelter, health needs, and school for their children. On the Opportunity -supported journey, they transform into mothers who have more confidence, fathers who have more knowledge, families who work together to earn, save, and experience hope today and dream of an even brighter tomorrow. • Opportunity partners with financial institutions to grow sustainable agricultural portfolios so more rural clients can access the capital they need. As of August 2026, we have catalyzed over 590,000 group loans, 49,000 individual farmer loans, and 15,000 micro/small/medium agribusiness loans, valued at $236 million. • AgFinance's Guaranteeing Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) program expands access to finance for women farmers and entrepreneurs. With the right training and support, women increase household incomes and gain greater decision -making power, while also addressing barriers like unpaid care burdens and limited access to land ; 64% of our AgFinance clients are women . We have hired and trained seven GROW regional coordinators who are cascading their training to project officers . • Regen erative agriculture (RegenAg) strengthen s climate -resilient development for smallholder farming communities facing disproportionate climate vulnerability. A recent Opportunity survey of farmers in Uganda, Rwanda, and Malawi shows that approximately 90% of farmers trained in RegenAg are actively applying those practices and 63% are applying multiple practices. We’ve established close to 1,000 trial plots where we’re seeing higher germination rates, fewer crop failures, reduced seed requirements, increased use of organic fertilizer, and reduced labor during land preparati on. Financial Services, Training, Support = Resilience With support from Opportunity International, Jeanne d'Arc was able to take out a life -changing loan, allowing her to expand her farm and make renovations to her home, bringing in additional income to better provide for her family in southern Rwanda. Jeanne and her husband manage a diverse farm that includes rice, vegetables, poultry, cows, and goats. Thanks to a loan and training from Opportunity International, Jeanne acquired additional land for rice farming, leading to increased yields and allowing for significant home improvements. She serves as president of her savings group; together Jeanne and her neighbors have learned financial literacy and business management. Through their collective efforts and the support of Opportunity International, the group members have been able to improve their livelihoods, increase their agricultural yields, and make positive changes in their homes —breaking the cycle of poverty and bui lding sustainable figures.
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Education Finance Opportunity’s Education Finance program is a unique approach t hat provides access for both parents and schools, enabling parents to send their children to local, quality schools that have trained teachers and experienced school leaders. Recent successes include: • Our School Leadership Academy is a one -day workshop that trains school leaders and connects them with financial service providers. Between January and August 2026, we’ve conducted 270 workshops in 12 countries, training 15,498 schools . Of those schools, 4,500 applied for finance, and about 25% were approved for loans valued at $20.5 million . • In partnership with Opportunity Bank Uganda and Finca Malawi, loan loss guarantees and a senior debt fund support education lending to rural communities in Uganda and Malawi . • In northern Ghana , IDP Foundation’s Rising Schools project aims to unlock affordable finance for low-fee, first-time borrower schools to improve infrastructure, resources, and working capital. • Research recently completed from EduQuality schools across Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Dominican Republic shows 62% of schools improved their Education Quality scores between years one and three. • In the last six months, we’ve offered two webinars, engaging 372 participants from over 40 countries. Opportunity staff and industry experts discussed catalytic capital, blended finance, impact investment, and financing skills for livelihoods , aligning education finance with “real world” pathways to work.
Meet Francisca For Francisca, teaching is a calling that began when she first led Sunday school. She began teaching in Ghana's Eastern Region after high school. Her lack of formal teacher training made it challenging until she joined EduQuality’s Teacher Mentor Professional Development workshops. “I had the passion to teach, but because I haven’t been to teacher training college, I didn’t know how to go about doing a lot of things like lesson planning, how to manage the learners well and ways to keep learners engaged, ” Francisca noted. Francisca learned practical strategies that helped her become more intentional and learner centered . She discovered the importance of creating a safe and supportive classroom environment where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for growth rather than occasions for embarrassment. Francisca's growth has extended beyond her own classroom. Having benefite d from the program, she now mentors others within her school. (excerpt from Bright Elorm Lumor’s October 2026 blog )
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Ultra -Poverty Graduation The Graduation program offers a long -term solution whereby families living in subsistence mode, receive support to secure food; start one or two income -generating businesses; learn basic financial skills; mentorship; community linkages; and job skills —supp ort that will pave a holistic, viable path out of poverty. • Colombia : Since 2023, two cohorts have graduated; the third cohort is currently active in Barranquilla and we’re preparing for a fourth . Cohorts one and two reported respectively that 91% and 90% of graduates exceeded Cartagena’s extreme poverty line . We recently completed a 15-month post -Graduation program with cohort one graduates: 86% are maintain ing their income -generating businesses ; 124 households added a second source of income . • Malawi : Since 2021, we’ve shepherded three rural Graduation cohorts, with the fourth currently active in Blantyre. The third cohort graduated this spring, with a 96% graduation rate; 100% of graduates improved livelihoods through productive assets like livestock or vegetable farming ; 100% started and maintained savings; 94% improved food security . Colombia Opportunity International began our work in Colombia in 1971; today, we continue our commitment to helping the people of Colombia move from deep poverty to sustainable livelihoods. • As of June 2026, 5,677 women and men are in 453 savings groups, developing financial skills and starting businesses . • The second year of the three -year Education Quality program included leadership training, institutional improvement, and improving education quality across 106 schools, impacting 21,200 children. Uganda Refugees Opportunity has been working with refugees in Uganda since 2019, collaborating with the Ugandan government, UNHCR, and local partners to support refugees to identify business opportunities, access financial services, and build sustainable livelihoods. • Through a combination of business development services and business coaching, 135 refugees built up income -generating businesses as they build a new life. Between them these businesses have created or improved over 500 jobs in the community. • 1,311 micro-entrepreneurs participated in Opportunity Bank of Uganda’s Street Business School curriculum business skills training . To date, 582 people have developed business plans, which are under review for seed capital support.
Thank you for fueling the journey out of poverty to sustainable livelihoods. Opportunity in the Media Tim Strong, Head of Agriculture Finance, spoke with Bloomberg TV on the importance of tools like our as smallholder farmers prepare for challenging weather events.
FarmerAI virtual assistant
This past spring McKinsey & Company’s new social sector insights report identifies Opportunity International’s Education Finance program as one of only four education financing mechanisms that has already been “tested and proved effective.
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