Microfinancing as a Poverty Reduction Tool

Microfinance as a Poverty Reduction Tool—A Critical Assessment

This paper attempts to provide a critical appraisal of the debate on the effectiveness of microfinance as a universal poverty reduction tool. It argues that while microfinance has developed some innovative management and business strategies, its impact on poverty reduction remains in doubt. Microfinance, however, certainly plays an important role in providing safety-net and consumption smoothen...

The potentials of agricultural insurance as a poverty reduction tool

Poverty persists in many sectors of society. Choosing no one, it creates a dent in an inclusive approach to development the Philippines has endeavored in the last few decades. To make it worse, high poverty incidence is apparent in the agriculture sector, which, together with the manufacturing industry, serves as backbone of the Philippine economy. Exposed to a multitude of risks, a considerabl...

Financing Social Innovation for Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Microfinancing and Microenterprise Development in Bangladesh

Location as a Poverty Trap

In this paper, we ask “Can proximity to towns reduces poverty in rural areas?” For this study we have mapped all the villages in Orissa. The study is based on small area poverty estimation methodology as well as the secondary data covering 47,395 villages and 109 towns. Our main findings are (i) there is a relationship between the distance to nearest town and rural poverty and (ii) poverty leve...

Organic Farming as a Tool for Productivity and Poverty Reduction in Asia

This concise synthesis paper is based on some recent developments and also primarily on an IFAD evaluation of small farmer experiences of organic projects under different conditions in Asia led by this author. It briefly reviews key issues ranging from the adequacy of fertilizers, labor, and plant protection to important considerations about certification and marketing. It finds significant evi...