Feb 07, 2011
Dark Skies After All
Feb 01, 2011
Sunny Days for Microfinance
Many, including SSIR editor Tamara Strauss, have characterized recent news from the microfinance industry as “largely depressing.” I couldn’t disagree more with that perspective. I think the current moment is the beginning of the golden years for microfinance.
Jan 26, 2011
Insights from New Orleans
Jan 25, 2011
Food for the World - New Report on Global Food Future
Feeding the world’s poor today and in the future will require a major agricultural transformation. The problem is, very smart and informed people disagree on what that transformation should look like.
Dec 08, 2010
Good News on World AIDS Day. Sort of.
Using the AIDS drug Truvada as a once-a-day prevention protocol produced a 43 percent reduction, a recent study found.
Nov 02, 2010
The Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference Round Up
There was a huge amount of information and data presented at the recent Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference. It was hard to take it all in, but thankfully there were a number of bloggers and other interested parties at the event who have provided summaries, interviews and reactions. Those posts are collected here for easy access and we’ll be updating the list as we go.
Oct 29, 2010
Eyes and Mouths Wide Shut?
A planned public discussion of how to evaluate the Millennium Villages Project was canceled this week for unknown reasons. Join a petition to encourage the Center for Global Development, the World Bank and the Millennium Villages Project to reschedule the discussion and make it accessible to all.
Oct 29, 2010
Targeting the Ultrapoor
Encouraging results from two programs replicating BRAC’s pioneering program targeting the ultrapoor.
Oct 26, 2010
Can it Help the Poor if it Hurts the Banks?
Could the rigidity of the typical micro-credit product be partially responsible for the fact that access to credit has limited, if any, income effects for micro-entrepreneurs?
Oct 25, 2010
What Don’t We Know about Microfinance
The first session of Day 2 took a step back to discuss what we don’t know, but should. Panel participants were Chris Dunford from Freedom from Hunger, who spoke about the limits of RCTs; Rich Rosenberg from CGAP discussed overindebtedness; and Abhijit Banerjee from JPAL offered insights into why micro-enterprises never seem to grow.