"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Muhammad Yunus and Microfinancing
My EVOKE hero developed an investment strategy that turned the African and Indian entrepreneurial markets on their head. Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, circ**vented the banks' collateral requirements for loans through the voluntary formation of groups of five serving as an enforcement mechanism. He won a Nobel Prize in 2006 for the idea.
Here's how it works:
Five community members seeking capital get together and apply for microfinancing of small denominations (often less than $200 USD). At first, only the first two members of the group can apply for credit. Successful repayment extends that access to other group members.
And the system does work. Grameen Bank participants enjoy household incomes 50% higher than residents of non-participating villages. Moreover, they enjoy incomes 25% higher than non-participants within their own villages. And with 90% of Grameen Bank participants being female, it is doing wonders for encouraging independence and innovation.
If you're interested in learning more about microfinancing as a method of combatting poverty, you can join me in following Professor Yunus on twitter at @ProfessorYunus.
Views: 25
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Comment by dr_morel on March 9, 2010 at 9:39pm
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Michael, when I worked at a bookstore, one of my fellow booksellers, a South African by chance, was a big fan of Yunis's book Banker to the Poor, which I never got around to reading. I remember several interviews on various media when he won the Nobel. I'd imagine that combining microloan with micropayment tech might yield quick, impacting results for many.
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Comment by Michael Andersen on March 9, 2010 at 9:49pm
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I actually studied a number of different micropayment methods last semester through my coursework on ePayment systems...I think there's a lot of potential in expanding the mobile banking programs in Africa as an underlying infrastructure.
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