b. Micro-Finance, Credit and Savings

Microfinance and the Poor: Breaking down walls between microfinance and formal finance

By Elizabeth Littlefiled, Chief Executive Officer, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have emerged over the past three decades to address this market failure and provide financial services to low-income clients.Most of the early pioneer organizations in the modern microfinance movement operated as nonprofit, socially motivated nongovernmental organizations. They developed new credit techniques: instead of requiring collateral, they reduced risk through group guarantees, appraisal of household cash flow, and small initial loans to test clients...

DISCUSSION PAPER: Microfinance and HIV/AIDS

Joan Parker, Development Alternatives, USAID Microenterprise Best Practices May 2000 This Discussion Paper is written for microfinance practitioners worldwide. Its purpose is to heighten awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on microfinance institutions and the communities they serve. The paper does not propose recommendations on how MFIs can directly fight HIV/AIDS. It does, however, point out a range of options open to MFIs that decide to play a proactive role in HIV/AIDS-affected communities.

Microfinance and the Millennium Development Goals (Fact Sheet)

Published by the UN Department of Public Information in cooperation with the Year of Microcredit Secretariat DPI/2357C—455499—October 2004. Microcredit and microfinance are contributing significantly to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. These eight development targets, agreed to by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000, address standards of health, gender equality and education with the overarching goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. The Year of Microcredit 2005 will enhance the impact of microcredit and microfinance with the aim of meeting the Goals.

Microfinance and the Millennium Development Goals

Published by UNCDF, October 2005. This document provides information from key reports on the importance of access to microfinance in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While the MDGs do not formally sets targets for financial sector access, low-income countries need microfinance to achieve the MDGs. Microfinance underpins the achievement of many MDGs and plays a key role in many MDG strategies. Microfinance fosters financially self-sufficient domestic private sectors and creates wealth for low-income people.

Microfinance through the Next Decade: Visioning the Who, What, Where, When and How

by: Elisabeth Rhyne, Senior Vice President, Published November 2006 For reproduction rights, contact: Robin Ratcliffe (rratcliffe@accion.org) ACCION International 56 Roland Street, Suite 300 Boston, MA 02129 USA This paper envisions the future of microfinance. It identifies the major factors that are already driving change in the industry, and examines the likely impact these forces will have on the shape of things to come. Some of these forces will propel microfinance forward, while others pose challenges to be overcome. This paper calls on every professional working in microfinance to consider carefully the likely effects of change on the industry and to respond proactively to ensure that microfinance realizes its promise.

From Microfinance to Macro Change: Integrating Health Education and Microfinance to Empower Women and Reduce Poverty

Published by Microcredit Summit Campaign, UNPF, 2006 440 1st Street, NW Suite 460 Washington, DC 20001 202-637-9600 www.microcreditsummit.org The time has come for action. This document calls on development agencies, governments, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and donors to help realize the goal of health and equal opportunity for all by investing in strategies with proven impact on the problem of global poverty and poor health. It proposes one specific strategy that acknowledges the intimate relationship between poverty and poor health, and has proven impacts for very large numbers of the poor and very poor1. This proposed strategy is the combination of microfinance and reproductive health education.

Microfinance: A View from the Fund

Prepared by the Monetary and Financial Systems Department With contributions from the African, Policy Development and Review, and Research Departments Approved by Stefan Ingves January 25, 2005 Microfinance institutions (MFIs) offer a promising alternative for broadening the reach of financial services to the poor, especially in developing countries. MFIs seek to provide small-scale loans and other financial services to low income individuals and informal businesses. The size and scope of the microfinance industry has been expanding quickly, and is expected to grow further as the demand for financial services by the poor remains largely unmet...

b2bpricenow.com

B2bpricenow.com’s E-commerce for Farmers Program is a revolutionary and successful social business that provides an e-commerce marketplace for agriculture, distributes cash cards (debit cards with mobile functionality for money transfers, and facilitates co-op owned and managed b2bcenters (telecenters) which enables farmers to have a virtual bank accounts. The Program cuts out information middlemen and allows directly access to buyers. Founded in the Philippines in 2000, B2B proposes to bring the same farmers, through their cooperatives to link directly to European and Japanese purchasers of carbon credits in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. B2b’s expertise is in the use of information technology in the agriculture sector. This same technology, its established partnerships and cultural knowledge, and experience that have already aided poor farmers will be part of a program to create an Asia wide carbon trading market, one that complements and works with the London and Chicago-based carbon exchanges. The exchange will most likely be based in Singapore.

The Microfinance Promise

By Jonathan Morduch, Published in Journal of Economic Literature Vol. XXXVII (Decmber 1999), pp. 1569–1614The hope is that much poverty can be alleviated— and that economic and social structures can be transformed fundamentally— by providing financial services to low-income households. These institutions, united under the banner of microfinance, share a commitment to serving clients that have been excluded from the formal banking sector. Almost all of the borrowers do so to finance self-employment activities, and many start by taking loans as small as $75, repaid over several months or a year...