My colleagues and I often say or write that “microfinance alone is not enough.” Others counter that microfinance, by helping the poor do microbusiness to get more income and assets, must surely be a wonderful way to give a boost up a rung or two of the ladder out of poverty. Yes, it is a wonderful boost, but consider how easy it is slip and fall off the ladder back into the depths of poverty. Take just one problem other than lack of money which is faced by the poor (by all of us, in fact) - ill health. It is a major cause as well as effect of poverty. In the 2002 World Bank study, Dying for Change, illness was the most commonly cited reason for “a downward slide into poverty… ahead of losing a job, which took second place. The poor are more likely to be exposed to health risks because their work is physically demanding and often dangerous. But they are least likely to be able to afford health care when they are injured or fall ill.” (more…)
Microfinance is the most exciting and dynamic development innovation in the past quarter century, because it provides a highly useful resource in very high demand by the poor - money! Having money offers far more options than having a bag of seeds or even a bag of fertilizer. To support the exercise of free will, money is the king of resources. But what about the information necessary to use money for good rather than ill - not just to use money to make money, but to use it to seize the new options that having more money opens up for the poor? (more…)
Today is our third annual Freedom from Hunger Day - an occasion marking the many triumphs we’ve had over the problem of chronic hunger, and a time to honor the millions of hard-working women and families dedicated to sustaining themselves.
This year, though, Freedom from Hunger Day serves another very significant purpose, and that is to call critical attention to the severity of the current Global Food Crisis and the reality of its destructiveness.
With food shortages and food prices escalating everywhere, the extent of chronic hunger is expected (more…)
Any movement to eliminate hunger and radically reduce poverty has to be built on a basic understanding:The poor - even the very poor - even the chronically hungry poor - are not passive victims of their circumstances. They’re ready, willing, and able to actively use any help offered to them to help themselves.
Here are two corollaries:
- The poor have the power of individual human spirit, which gives them resourcefulness and resilience. And…
- They have each other - their social capital - the relationships, the solidarity, the collective courage that enable them to survive in conditions that would kill most of us who haven’t grown up with them.
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Up the main street of Bawjiase, a provincial town in Ghana, march some 60 women in canary-yellow shirts. Actually, they dance up the street in cadence with a raucous brass-and-drums band bringing up the rear of the procession. Still, it looks like a formal march because these exuberant women manage to dance forward in disciplined ranks, waving and shouting to the throng of townspeople going about their business in the roadside shops and stalls. The ranks of yellow shirts are led by an equally yellow banner, declaring August 7, 2008, the official launch date for the HealthKeepers program. Their destination is a large courtyard, where dignitaries wait to honor Freedom from Hunger’s latest social business initiative with speeches and a formal declaration that the HealthKeepers program is now officially launched. (more…)
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