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> Posted by Center Staff
This edition of Top Picks features three posts that each highlight an initiative with the potential to further inform financial inclusion efforts. These initiatives include an entrepreneurial assistance program for women in post-war Uganda, a project that explored the effectiveness of microfinance providers offering health services, and an interactive workshop on impact evaluation.
- What’s the best way to help the poor in the aftermath of war? A new post on the Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) blog highlights the recent release of findings from a program that provided entrepreneurial assistance – business training, start-up money, ongoing support and monitoring – to women in northern Uganda. The assistance led to increases in business activity and decreases in poverty, but did not have an effect on non-economic areas, such as physical and mental health. The program was conducted by IPA, Italian NGO AVSI Uganda, and Chris Blattman of Columbia University.
- In his latest post on The Evidence Project, Chris Dunford shares the results of Freedom from Hunger’s Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) initiative, which sought to test the feasibility and impact of offering microfinance clients health education, as well as access to health services and products. Five large-scale microfinance providers participated in the initiative, developing health protection packages for their clients. The results from the initiative support a case for the effectiveness of integrating microfinance and health services.
- Re-Evaluating Impact Evaluation, a new Next Billion post from Hui Wen Chan of the Citi Foundation, revisits a recent impact evaluation workshop and shares some of the key discussion points from the event. Arguably the most salient of these being think beyond the financial, consider both the economic and non-economic impacts of your products or services. Another key point shared in the post is the integrity of data depends both on the questions asked and the manner in which they are asked. The workshop was provided by the William Davidson Institute (WDI) and hosted by the Citi Foundation in New York City.
> Posted by Chris Dunford, Senior Research Fellow, Freedom from Hunger
The following post was originally published on Chris Dunford’s blog, The Evidence Project.
Of the three main pathways through which microfinance services can reduce vulnerability (income-smoothing, building assets — including financial, physical, human, and social assets — and empowering women), the last two posts covered the evidence for income-smoothing and accumulation of physical assets. Now I turn to financial asset accumulation, which for the poor basically means savings. Before getting into the evidence that microfinance helps build household savings, I want to reflect on the ambivalent attitude of the anti-poverty movement toward savings.
By common definition, the poor have no money, and they live “hand to mouth,” so how can we expect them to save?
If past literature and practitioner experience were not enough, recent books, especially Portfolios of the Poor and Poor Economics, have dispelled the old notion that the poor can’t save. We know they can and they do. We know there are long-standing traditions all over the world that encourage and offer guidance to both poor and not-so-poor people on why and how to save money for future use. When people don’t save, it is often because they doubt the security and accessibility of their money. Often they don’t have access to options for protecting their money from diversion to family and friends and from their own lack of self-discipline to overcome the temptation of “now” in favor of “later.”
> Posted by Chris Dunford, Senior Research Fellow, Freedom from Hunger
Chris Dunford of Freedom from Hunger responds to a question we posed at the end of the recent post regarding Avanza: How does such new technology affect the client/loan officer relationship that is so central to the operations of many MFIs? The post begins:
Although less celebrated than solidarity group and loan contract innovations, another unique feature of microfinance is the regular face time between clients and agents of organizations from outside the isolated world of a poor person. Agents variously known as loan officers, credit officers, field agents, promoters, or animators can accompany and guide poor clients on their journeys toward mainstream society and economy and can be social intermediaries between the poor and whatever services and opportunities are available in the larger world outside their communities. The importance of such facilitation increases in proportion to the isolation of the poor, which is especially severe for women and those in very poor, rural communities.
> Posted by Chris Dunford, Senior Research Fellow, Freedom From Hunger
Bridging the Gap is a most welcome and ambitious review of the state of financial education. Its authors, Anamitra Deb and Mike Kubzansky of the Monitor Group, were commissioned and funded by the Citi Foundation.
There is much real value to this work, and I will point out the important contributions the report makes. I will also point out serious concerns about some of the points made and how they may distort the experience to date and the promise of financial education. Please read it for yourself rather than depend on me to summarize it for you here. This review is meant to help you read the report carefully.
Bringing conceptual clarity to an often muddled narrative
A valuable distinction is made by Bridging the Gap: financial education is but one component of the huge effort required to build financial capability. Financial capability is defined as “the ability to make informed judgments and effective decisions about the use and management of one’s money.” This must accompany access to financial services in order to bring about true financial inclusion. By these assertions alone, the authors earn our gratitude for bringing conceptual clarity to an often muddled narrative. Read the rest of this entry »
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