Aug 10, 2010

A Warning Sign of the Next Food Crisis?

While Russia’s decision isn’t necessarily a sign of another rampaging food crisis, it is just another alarm bell about the state of the world food supply and how susceptible the system is to weather and government action. Ultimately, this is another data point on the priority of improving yields around the world, fighting the brown revolution with every tool we have, and ending the unjust and evil tyranny of developed world food policy.

Jul 30, 2010

Further Thoughts on Unitus/SKS

Some conversations and reactions to my earlier post have made it clear to me that I need to clarify some points and my thoughts on Unitus and SKS.The key issue for me is not that something “wrong” was done; it’s certainly not that people are profiting by serving the poor. The key issue is how we as a society handle the cross-overs between the public interest and private interest. We debate these issues endlessly when it comes to economic stimulus, bailouts, and government contracts. It’s time for the social entrepreneurship sector to debate these issues too—and to come up with some very good answers that ensure the public maintains confidence in social enterprise as a way of solving our pressing problems.

Jul 28, 2010

Why Every Social Entrepreneur Should Be Paying Attention to SKS and Unitus

There are some very real issues for the social entrepreneurship community raised by the SKS IPO and the Unitus shutdown. Issues that social entrepreneurs have, to date, been able to ignore. No longer. We are for the first time, I believe, seeing what the endgame for social entrepreneurship can look like. The social entrepreneurship space is still the wild west—everyone is making it up as they go along. I suspect that is going to rapidly change as the details about SKS and Unitus slowly trickle out.

Jul 28, 2010

A Guide to the SKS/Unitus Story

Given that stories about the SKS IPO and the Unitus shutdown, how the two are interrelated and what it all means for the social entrepreneurship community are spread across the web, I thought it would be useful to publish a mostly comprehensive guide here. Please suggest anything that I’ve missed in the comments. I’ll add to it as I see new material.

Jan 07, 2010

Is Agro-Imperialism Really Agro-Opportunity?

Investors from countries with a lot of money but very little arable land—such as Saudi Arabia, South Korea and India—have purchased the rights to develop millions of acres for agriculture and export the yield for sale in their native countries. Observers implicitly conclude that the lease of Ethiopian land to foreign developers amounts to nothing less than exploitation of the poor by the wealthy. But does it have to be?

Oct 28, 2009

Microfinance: Autism or Hormone Replacement Therapy?

This has been a banner year for gathering real evidence about microfinance. But does all of this research matter? Will it change what donors believe about microfinance? In other words, is microfinance more like autism or Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Oct 16, 2009

Kiva, Transparency, Connections and Conduits

There’s been a great deal more conversation about the gap between the Kiva story and the Kiva reality since my post on Monday. You can see a mostly comprehensive guide to the conversation here (and I really recommend reading through the first several articles there if you’re not familiar with the debate). The most important update is that Kiva tonight posted a new, more complete description of how it operates. I want to react to various points made in the debate and Kiva’s update, clarify where I stand and ask a few more questions of everyone involved. I truly hope the outcome of all of this conversation is lots of Kiva users, and lots of other donors, who are willing to accept less connection in favor of more effectiveness.

Oct 13, 2009

A Mostly Comprehensive Guide to the Kiva and Donor Illusion Debate

The posts and comments have been flying fast and furious over the issue of Kiva specifically and the issues of transparency and donors demands for illusion. For those who haven’t been able to keep up, I thought it would be helpful to provide a mostly comprehensive guide to the various posts. I’ll try to keep it updated when/if more is added.

Oct 12, 2009

Even More Questions About Kiva

Today I saw a Kiva document that, for me, points to a far bigger problem with Kiva than those already pointed out. Two points in the document floored me. First, all losses from Kiva-securitized loans are borne by the Kiva user. Second, Kiva’s monthly repayment reports are not based on actual repayment data.

Oct 07, 2009

Rwanda: Now the Tragedy has Irony

Rwanda is a place where the generally accepted and reported narrative is increasingly diverging from the facts on the ground. The narrative is well-known: Since the genocide, Rwanda has made steady progress in economic growth, stability and reconciliation under the benevolent and enlightened leadership of President Paul Kagame who is attracting economic investment from the business community rather than by soliciting aid.

But the narrative is breaking down at all levels. Rwanda is starting to look much more like a bitter tragedy than an inspirational new model.