Whose Sustainability Counts?: BASIX's Long March from Microfinance to Livelihoods

Is microfinance failing to meet its promise?

Several recent events have undermined confidence in microfinance and microfinance institutions (MFIs). They range from the collapse of the microfinance industry in Andhra Pradesh, to the Bangladesh government’s dismissal of Grameen Bank President Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize–winner and venerated father of microcredit, to the increasing publicity about micro-loan debt bondage and debt-induced suicides of MFI clients in the subcontinent.

What do thes...