> Posted by Michelle Romeu

This week the blogosphere offers insight into the ongoing turbulence in Andhra Pradesh, agriculture as opportunity, savings and debt, and what you can accomplish for microfinance not long after you learn to tie your own shoes.

  • What’s in a name? Barbara Kiviat at the Financial Access Initiative blog takes a deeper look at  “a call for better language” in the wake of the Microfinance USA conference, where the meaning of the word “microfinance” was discussed.
  • At CGAP’s Microfinance Blog, Dean Karlan shares an excerpt from his book as part of CGAP’s blog series on savings. In this snippet, Karlan sets up the question of why people borrow, instead of save, when they are engaged in a cycle of high interest rate debt.
  • David Roodman ponders a video from Indian broadcaster NDTV that focuses on entrepreneurs who’ve been hurt by the loss of access to microcredit in Andhra Pradesh.
  • Kiva’s blog shows us that people of all ages can contribute to microfinance, by highlighting the letter-writing of 4th-graders in Dover, Massachusetts. These students not only corresponded with a Kenyan borrower, but also collectively made loans through Kiva.
  • NextBillion sheds light on the role of agriculture as “the greatest opportunity for entrepreneurs in the developing world,” and discusses the ways in which the smallholder farmer can contribute to the alleviation of poverty.