Financial products and training, the winning formula? | Nancy's update from Zimbabwe

It is now widely accepted that a key component of financial inclusion, that is providing poor and low-income people with access to appropriate and affordable financial services, is financial literacy. This, of course, makes perfect sense. After all, what is the good in providing the tools if the recipients do not fully understand how to use them, or indeed understand what might be the risks of using them?

More than just microfinance | Helping poor farmers in the Philippines recover from disaster and build security for the future

This is Arlene Montejo, a small-scale farmer from the beautiful yet isolated mountain village of Sudlon II on the outskirts of Cebu City in the Philippines. Arlene, like millions of poor people around the world, relies solely on farming to generate an income and support her family. She grows a variety of vegetables including lettuces, cabbages, cucumbers and aubergines. When I met Arlene at her farm two weeks ago she told me that lettuce is the most popular item, selling an average of 300kg a week.

Arelene Montejo, farming entrepreneur working with our partner in the Philippines

It’s Financial Inclusion 2020 Week – but what happened to microfinance?

This week you may notice a lot of online discussion and social media chatter about financial inclusion, and how we ensure that low- and moderate-income people around the world have access to a full suite of quality financial services. And while this conversation is important, and this week gives those of us working in the sector the opportunity to galvanise support and mobilise action, it dawned on me that some people might be wondering: “What ever happened to microfinance?”

Three findings from Lendwithcare’s partners which refute the pessimists on (indirect) peer to peer microfinance

This article is a re-post that first appeared on CARE Insights.

CARE's own microlending initiative, Lendwithcare.org, welcomed its Microfinance Institution partners from around the world to a workshop in London last week. The members highlighted how microcredit remains effective in fighting poverty, how peer-to-peer platforms can support this, and how social performance can be effectively measured and incorporated into its delivery.

All of this is in contrast to recent questions from sceptics over whether the peer-to-peer micro lending model really helps tackle poverty.

© 2012 Wolfgang Gressmann/CARE