Refining our strategy for greater impact: Interview with Mirjam ’t Lam 

Oikocredit’s mid-term review and revised strategy 

Can you share why the mid-term review of the 2022–2026 strategy was necessary, what key insights it revealed, and whether anything in the findings confirmed that Oikocredit is on the right track?  

A mid-term review is an essential checkpoint—it helps us assess our progress, sharpen our focus, and ensure we’re delivering real impact. Conducted in the second half of 2024, the review reaffirmed our North Star: fostering community resilience for low-income people. Given the challenges of climate change, economic shifts, and growing inequality, our mission remains more relevant than ever. 

With growing challenges like climate change, economic uncertainty, and rising inequality, our work has never been more relevant. 

The findings also reinforced the value of Oikocredit’s unique approach—engaging investors through global learning and advocating for responsible investing. But beyond validation, the review spurred action. It led to concrete steps like developing new community-focused financial products, expanding our investor base, and deepening engagement through webinars and investor journeys. 

Importantly, the review gave us a chance to recalibrate goals set during the uncertain pandemic years. We refined our objectives to ensure they are realistic, inspiring, and aligned with today’s realities—providing a renewed sense of focus and confidence for the road ahead. 

Oikocredit emphasises balancing risk, return, and impact. Can you share more about this and how the cooperative plans to achieve and maintain that balance? 

For us, financial performance isn’t just about numbers—it’s about impact. We’re proud to have reached 53 million people and implemented capacity-building projects that empower partners, individuals and communities. But ensuring financial sustainability is just as critical. 

The review highlighted financial challenges, particularly as some partners have struggled with repayments, leading to increased loan loss provisions over the past years. This is a trend we’re committed to reversing. While our impact has exceeded expectations, we need to refine our approach on portfolio development to balance impact adequately with the risks and the return to safeguard the resilience of the cooperative.  

Our strategy moving forward is to strike a better balance between impact, risk, and return, allowing us to expand our reach sustainably. By focusing on creating a solid portfolio with insights from our social performance and risk management practices we’re fine-tuning our approach to maximise both impact and positive financial contribution. 

Why is building climate-resilient communities at the centre of the revised strategy? 

Climate resilience has always been a part of our strategy, but our recent end-client survey reinforced its urgency. Communities are already experiencing severe climate impacts, far more prominently than anticipated. To truly support resilience, we need to integrate climate adaptation into our strategy more explicitly. 

This is not just our responsibility—it’s a shared commitment with our partners. Together, we’re identifying practical ways to mitigate climate risks and strengthen adaptation efforts. Take Kenya, for example: drought and unpredictable weather patterns lead to declining agricultural yields and make rural life unsustainable. Our microfinance partners can help by offering education on climate impact, loans for financing water tanks and irrigation solutions—efforts that support families and their income. 

Ultimately, climate change disproportionately affects low-income communities. By integrating climate action into everything we do, we’re ensuring our partners and their clients can adapt, thrive, and build more resilient futures.

Can you tell us more about the Climate Smart Solutions portfolio and how it differs from your traditional community-focused approach? 

Since 2022, we have prioritised working with microfinance partners and organisations like Opportunity International and Aqua for All to address key community needs, such as housing, water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), and education. Now, we’re extending this approach to climate-smart solutions. 

The key difference? Our new Climate Smart Solutions portfolio focuses on stand-alone, financeable projects with measurable environmental impact. This is unlike traditional community-focused initiatives, which focuses specifically on working with our current financial inclusion partners to create better access to education, for example. Building on our strong track record in renewable energy investments, we’re now directing financing toward solutions that directly combat climate risks in the areas where our target population lives —ensuring social and environmental resilience remain at the core of our mission. 

How do you see Oikocredit’s focus sectors/development finance portfolio evolving over the coming years? 

Our strategy has been shifting towards a stronger community focus. While microfinance remains essential, its dominance in our portfolio will gradually decrease now the sector is more mature and finance for our target groups has become even more accessible with innovations such as fintech and AI. 

However, our review highlighted growing inequalities, particularly due to climate change, geopolitical shifts, and regulatory changes. To address these emerging challenges, we are emphasising climate-smart solutions, food security, renewable energy, and female entrepreneurship. This evolving portfolio ensures that we remain relevant and impactful in a changing world. 

How does Oikocredit’s global learning and advocacy work help bridge the gap between investor communities and the communities you serve? 

Our global learning and advocacy efforts stem from real-life community experiences. By engaging directly with our partners and their clients, we gain valuable insights that shape our work in global learning which is carried out together with our support associations . 

We use the stories from our partners and their clients to raise awareness in our capital-raising countries, helping investors understand the realities faced by communities on low incomes. This approach strengthens our broader mission of community resilience and encourages responsible investment. By fostering these connections, we ensure that the needs of our partners’ clients are not only heard but also addressed in meaningful and sustainable ways. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you anticipate in coming years? 

Two major challenges stand out. First, the world is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Natural disasters, political instability, and economic volatility demand greater agility from us. To keep supporting our partners effectively, we must be prepared to make swift, informed decisions—even in uncertain conditions. 

The second challenge is ensuring our impact is recognised and understood. Over the past 50 years, Oikocredit has been a pioneer in impact investing, helping shape an entire sector. But as our mission expands beyond financial inclusion to areas like energy access, food security, and climate adaptation, we need to better showcase the depth and breadth of our work. 

With tools like the End-Client Survey, we are improving how we measure and in turn communicate our impact, ensuring our efforts remain targeted, effective, and aligned with the needs of the communities we serve. 

As we are celebrating our 50th anniversary, how do you see Oikocredit’s role evolving over the next decade in the social impact investing space? 

We have a lot to celebrate—50 years of investing in people, strengthening communities, and advancing social impact. But the work doesn’t stop here. The world is changing, and our mission must evolve with it. 

While financial inclusion was a primary concern in the past, today, pressing issues like climate resilience, gender equality, and fair market access require our attention. The next decade will be pivotal in creating innovative, sustainable solutions that address these challenges. 

By investing in initiatives that enhance social and economic resilience, we will continue improving livelihoods while ensuring fair returns for investors. As the impact investing sector grows, Oikocredit will continue to set the example, proving that long-term, meaningful change is possible when we prioritise people and their communities.