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NexThought Monday (2/10/14) – The Kiva Fairytale: It’s a Microlending Superstar – But Who is it Really Serving?
Beloved by the public and celebrated by the likes of Bill Clinton and Oprah, Kiva is perhaps the most famous microlender in the world. It lets users lend small amounts via the Internet to individual low-income entrepreneurs, based on their personal stories and photos. But according to Hugh Sinclair, it’s focused more on making lenders feel good than on actually helping the poor.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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NexThought Monday (1/20/14) – The Tragic Failure of Microcredit: Yunus’ Dream Has Become a Nightmare for the Global Poor
Microcredit was devised as a free market solution that would enable the global poor to escape their own poverty by starting an income-generating activity. But Milford Bateman argues that due to deregulation, commercialization - and fundamental flaws in the model - microcredit has instead undermined developing economies and trapped the poor in a cycle of debt.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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What Was 2014’s Most Influential Post?: You tell us – VOTE
In 2014, we published more than 570 blog posts. Now it’s your turn. We need your vote for NextBillion’s annual Most Influential Post contest. Last year’s contest attracted more than 16,000 ballots. That was huge – we’d be thrilled to do even better this year if we can. So please vote early and vote often. You can vote once a day, and for multiple posts if you choose. Please share this link or the contest link itself with your friends, family and colleagues.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Tiered vs. Equitable Pricing: Why Access to Medicine Index 2014 takes societal needs, affordability into account
The lead researcher with the Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to improve access to medicine for priority diseases in developing countries, explains how and why the Index’s pricing methodology evolved from measuring tiered-pricing strategies to measure what the Index terms “equitable pricing strategies” instead.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- supply chains
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Cheaper, Faster, Better?: Mercy Corps compares E-transfers and cash in the DRC
International humanitarian agencies are increasingly offering cash and vouchers as humanitarian assistance. But distributing cash carries security risks for agencies and recipients, while presenting accounting and logistical challenges. Electronic alternatives or vouchers could address these issues, but how well do they work? Mercy Corps studied the question in a program in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- digital payments, research
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More Than Credit: Can microfinance also deliver affordable health care?
Poor people should have greater demand for health coverage than any other market, but the microfinance sector has had difficulty convincing poor people to pay insurance premiums. In response, BRAC launched its own health loan pilot – the “medical treatment loan” – by partnering its microfinance and health programs in Bangladesh.
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- Education, Health Care
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NexThought Monday – How Latin America Can Feed the World : Our biggest challenge lies in how we work together
Family farms in Mexico and Central America average five acres, and most of these produce only enough to feed themselves. The central challenge is helping these subsistence farmers use their five acres to become small businesses and engines of the local economy.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Twitter Top Ten – 12/21/14: Our favorite tweets of the week
2014 has been a good year. Wait, a bad year. ... Turns out, it all depends on whose tweets you happen to read. We attempt to bring clarity to it all with our weekly wrap-up.
- Categories
- Investing
