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Defining ‘Good Practices’ in Microfinance: Smart Campaign Director Isabelle Barrès addresses the thorny issues of profits and pricing – and discusses its next steps
The Smart Campaign was launched to promote customer protection in microfinance – most notably by certifying the practices of participating MFIs. But critics have taken issue with the profits and pricing of some certified institutions. The campaign's director, Isabelle Barrès, responds to these criticisms, and discusses its next steps, in part two of our Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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An Uphill Climb: Smart Campaign director Isabelle Barrès, on the challenges of promoting client protection in microfinance
The Smart Campaign’s numbers are growing: It has certified 39 microfinance institutions as meeting its client protection standards, and these MFIs now serve slightly more than 20 million clients. But achieving this momentum hasn’t been an easy task for the campaign – or for the industry it’s trying to improve. Smart Campaign director Isabelle Barrès discusses the challenges in part one of this Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Landscape of Opportunities in India: Transforming health care through last-mile, private-sector solutions
A growing number of enterprises have developed innovative business models and technologies to tackle some of the toughest challenges in health care delivery. They are devising new and innovative products, services and business models to deliver affordable, quality health care at the last mile.
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- Environment, Health Care
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NexThought Monday – Power in Numbers: How organizing, even informally, benefits smallholder farmers
Markets don't address the needs of smallholder farmers. To remain competitive, these farmers will have to join forces with other smallholders and the external community will need to assist them by encouraging and enabling the formation of farmers' organizations.
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- Agriculture
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Weekly Roundup 8/1/15: Kenya gets a pat on the back, then a lecture, and the Internet roars about Cecil
It was all about Africa this week, as President Obama (and a surprising tech luminary) visited Kenya, the country's Catholic bishops made a stunningly ill-considered public health intervention, and a lion-killing dentist in Zimbabwe became the latest person to break the Internet. We cover these developments in this week's roundup.
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- Education, Health Care, Technology
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Previewing SOCAP15: A rundown of this year’s agenda – and a $500 discount for NextBillion readers!
Now in its eighth year, SOCAP15 will convene leading impact investors, world-class entrepreneurs and innovative cross-sector practitioners for three full days of networking and engaging content. The event will be held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA, Oct. 6-9, and NextBillion readers can get a $500 discount.
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- Social Enterprise
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‘Banana Has Potential’: From a field school to commercial venture, Nyangorora provides a sustainable model for smallholder farmers
Nyangorora Banana Processors is a collaboration between farmers, research institutes, development partners and county governments that has evolved over time and could present a sustainable way of enhancing access to markets for smallholder farmers in developing countries.
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- Agriculture
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Needed: Naïve People with Stupid Ideas: An interview with Intellecap co-founder and director Vineet Rai
When Intellecap was founded in 2002, few people would have predicted that it would become a social business and investing powerhouse. According to co-founder and director Vineet Rai, the company’s early years were defined by failure. He discusses the lessons he learned from these failures (and subsequent successes), Intellecap’s unique model and future plans, and many other topics in this wide-ranging video Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
