NEWS RELEASE San Diego, CA/Lancaster, PA/Bujumbura, Burundi - September 16, 2020 MEDIA CONTACTS Christi Renaud, Plant With Purpose [email protected] Becky Svendsen Harbaugh, HOPE International [email protected] Plant With Purpose and HOPE International partner to bring regenerative agriculture and environmental restoration to savings groups Plant With Purpose and HOPE International are excited to announce a new strategic partnership that merges the strengths of both organizations to equip rural families to grow out of poverty. This joint initiative in Burundi is a promising first step in 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 International’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 International’s savings groups will gain access to regenerative agriculture training, which, in combination with savings groups, has proven to have a substantial impact on poverty reduction and financial resilience in rural communities. In joining forces, Plant With Purpose gains the opportunity to extend its core program model to a larger population 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 (HOPE International's local program), and Floresta Burundi (Plant With Purpose’s local partner)—to learn from the experience and from each other's unique strengths. We prayerfully believe that the training and support we provide to these farmers will help individuals, households, and the environment flourish. “One exciting aspect of this partnership was that staff at the local level first pursued it,” said Josh Meyer, Senior Director of Savings Group Programs at HOPE International. “Burundian leaders from both organizations enthusiastically supported working together. The more discussions we had, the more it became clear that 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. Strategically and missionally, we are aligned in our prayerful pursuit of holistic transformation in the communities where we serve. There is so much to be learned from this partnership, including best practices in regenerative agriculture, savings group methodology, technology application. We wait with anticipation as the work begins!” ### 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 While HOPE International has been operating in Christ-centered microfinance since 1997, HOPE International has been partnering with churches around the world to promote savings group programs since 2007. HOPE International now supports a network of over 650,000 group members in 10 countries. Savings groups fight poverty holistically, combining group savings and lending with discipleship and critical community support. These groups have proved extremely valuable to those who lack a safe place to save money or access credit, and to those isolated from supportive relationships. Savings groups receive no outside capital injections, but rather work to save and mobilize their own funds. They are also self-governing: they make their own policies, elect leaders, and complete ongoing training. Group members agree on an amount to save each month or week, and can apply for loans from the group’s pooled savings—a valuable service for those who otherwise could not access small loans. 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. .