News & Events

Collaboration to Educate Families in Ethiopia, India and the Philippines to Save Money

Freedom from Hunger and the Grameen Foundation are teaming up to ensure that nearly 1.5 million microfinance clients earning less than $1.25/day can and will open savings accounts. Savings are vital in the lives of families who live on the margin of survival. Illness, loss of shelter, loss of assets or even the annual hungry season can force a family to turn to a moneylender who will trap them in debt and drive them deeper into poverty. Research studies show that Freedom from Hunger's learner-centered education, training and support helps very poor families save money. These funds are used not only to respond to emergencies but also to invest in microenterprises and even to achieve dreams such as sending children to secondary school.

In February 2010, Freedom from Hunger and the Grameen Foundation will begin work together as a part of the Microsavings Initiative funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Freedom from Hunger will provide both the curriculum and technical assistance needed by Grameen-supported partners to fully integrate savings education into their ongoing microfinance programs. The organizations are ACSI in Ethiopia, Cashpor in India, and CARD, Freedom from Hunger's longtime partner in the Philippines.

The education is based on curriculum already in use in Freedom from Hunger's Credit with Education program and has been proven to increase savings even among the poorest microfinance clients. The education helps microfinance clients know what opportunities they have to save for future needs.

This partnership with Grameen Foundation and three microfinance institutions in Africa and Asia reflects Freedom from Hunger's commitment to collaboration for learning and sharing what we learn with other organizations. Learn more

Clinton Global Initiative 2009

Our president, Chris Dunford, represented Freedom from Hunger at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York in September 2009, advancing Freedom from Hunger's mission to bring value-added microfinance to more women worldwide. "The Freedom from Hunger Commitment to Action presented at the conference," said Dunford, "aims to gather organizations that share our commitment to making microfinance and health services available to very poor women for the purpose of forming a global community of practice."

Freedom from Hunger Featured in the New York Times

Today, the New York Times published an exciting article highlighting the importance of combining microfinance with business education. The article not only acknowledges, but also illustrates that the public's interest in programs working to end world hunger has grown with the wider availability of microloans.

Bobbi L. Gray, a research and evaluation specialist with Freedom from Hunger is quoted in the article as saying, "There's been a realization in the microfinance community that loan recipients are more likely to succeed if they also receive business education."

The Times article reinforces this idea by reporting that the nonprofit research group Innovations for Poverty recently found that business run by Peruvian villagers who received microloans combined with business education performed much better than those who only received microloans.