Micro-finance is an instrument for development. However, the developmental purposes of microfinance are often lost behind the dominant focus on the technology and management of micro-finance, or on outreach to poor clients. This book challenges the microfinance industry to go beyond such a narrow focus, looking at the range of development goals for which microfinance can be used. These include not only poverty alleviation through providing savings, credit, and insurance, but also promoting livelihoods, empowering women, building people's organizations, and changing institutions. The book richly illustrates each of these from actual micro-finance practice and explores the organizational challenges of combining such development goals with financial service-provision.
The book is based on the great diversity of microfinance practice in India, which has developed numerous innovations, from new products for promoting livelihoods to democratic governance. The book provides the most comprehensive analysis available of Indian innovation and practice in microfinance, including detailed analysis of the "self-help groups" in India, comparisons with microfinance in Bangladesh, and the latest performance and impact assessment.
| List of tables | 9 | |
| List of figures | 10 | |
| List of boxes | 11 | |
| List of abbreviations | 12 | |
| Acknowledgements | 16 | |
| 1 | Introduction | 19 |
| 2 | Introduction to the financial sector in India | 33 |
| Pt. 1 | Micro-finance and development | |
| 3 | Micro-finance and social and economic security | 49 |
| 4 | Micro-finance and livelihoods: The challenge of BASIX | 73 |
| 5 | Micro-finance and people's organisations | 104 |
| 6 | Micro-finance and system-wide change | 137 |
| Pt. 2 | Micro-finance: Organisations and institutions | |
| 7 | Self-help groups and Grameen Bank groups: What are the differences? | 169 |
| 8 | Costs in micro-finance: What do urban self-help groups tell us? | 199 |
| 9 | Exploring empowerment and leadership at the grassroots: Social entrepreneurship in the SHG movement in India | 234 |
| 10 | Sustainability and development: Evaluating the performance of Indian micro-finance | 263 |
| 11 | Rising to the challenge of scale in India: Growing the micro-finance sector | 300 |
| 12 | Emerging lessons and challenges | 325 |
| App | Capacity-building and organisational learning project for development finance in India | 361 |
| Glossary | 370 | |
| Bibliography | 372 | |
| Index | 380 | |
| About the authors and contributors | 389 |
Overview
Micro-finance is an instrument for development. However, the developmental purposes of microfinance are often lost behind the dominant focus on the technology and management of micro-finance, or on outreach to poor clients. This book challenges the microfinance industry to go beyond such a narrow focus, looking at the range of development goals for which microfinance can be used. These include not only poverty alleviation through providing savings, credit, and insurance, but also promoting livelihoods, empowering...