Money with a Mission, Volume 1: Microfinance and Poverty Reduction - Softcover

Copestake, James; Greely, Martin; Johnson, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853396141 ISBN 13: 9781853396144

Publisher: ITDG Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

This book presents the findings of an action research programme into how far poverty-oriented microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are contributing to global poverty reduction, and how they can do so more effectively.Martin Greeley reviews evidence on their success in reaching poorer clients and improving the average income and wealth of their clients. Naila Kabeer reviews evidence on performance against a wider array of indicators, including women's empowerment, citizenship rights, and social inclusion. Susan Johnson is more cautious, suggesting that the contribution of MFIs to the overall growth of financial services in selected parts of Africa and India remains small. James Copestake reviews evidence on the organizational factors that influence achievement of MFIs' social as well as financial goals, as well as progress in routinely monitoring and managing social performance.This covers how MFIs can manage their 'double bottom lines' more effectively, as well as what public and private investors in microfinance can do to help them. The bigger challenge, linking up with the wider movement for corporate social responsibility, is to find ways to do so across the entire financial sector.

About this title

Review:

Reviewed with Money with a Mission, Volume 2
"[T]hese volumes offer MFIs [microfinance institutions] a practical means to thread their way between dependence on donors and their mission to serve the very poor...Summing Up: Recommended."--M. Larudee, DePaul Unversity "Choice "

About the Author:

James Copestake is a Development Economist with twenty years' experience researching microfinance and poverty (in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America), including five years as one of the coordinators of "Imp-Act" a global program of action-research into improving the impact of microfinance on poverty.

About this edition

• Publisher: ITDG Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1853396141
• ISBN 13: 9781853396144
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272