The question raised in the title is an important one to the microfinance sector, especially since the Microcredit Summit held in Washington, DC, in 1997. In order to gain more transparency on the depth of poverty outreach, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) supported research at...

In most developing countries, it is the private, informal markets that the rural poor have traditionally turned to service their financial needs. Why have these institutions succeeded in providing services to the poor when formal institutions have not? Do these informal institutions provide any...

Lending is a risky enterprise because repayment of loans can seldom be fully guaranteed. The failure of a large number of state-sponsored agricultural development banks in many developing countries was due, among other things, to their inability to ensure good repayment rates among their...

For poor rural families in developing countries, access to credit and savings facilities has the potential to make the difference between grinding poverty and an economically secure life. Well-managed savings facilities permit households to build up funds for future investment or consumption....

Governments, policymakers, and donors attach a great deal of importance to poverty outreach—the extent to which MFIs serve poor and disadvantaged locations—when evaluating microfinance institutions (MFIs). With the above considerations in mind, IFPRI undertook a study of the service...

This policy brief summarizes lessons learned from IFPRI's multicountry program on rural finance and household food security with regard to the poors' demand for financial services. The lessons are derived from detailed household surveys conducted in nine countries of Asia and Africa: Bangladesh,...

These 14 policy briefs summarize lessons learned from IFPRI´s multicountry program on rural finance and household food security with regard to the poors' demand for financial services. The lessons are derived from detailed household surveys conducted in nine countries of Asia and Africa:...

This brief considers the scope for policy action in seven areas: (1) regulation of microfinance institutions, (2) provision of saving services, (3) product innovation, (4) organizational issues in microfinance, (5) poverty impact of microfinance, (6) agricultural finance, and (7) subsidy and...

The spectacular growth of the microfinance industry has been fueled not by market forces but by conscious actions of national governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and donors who view microfinance as an effective tool for alleviating poverty. Since much of the impetus behind this...

Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) receive public support. In return for this support, governments and donors demand MFIs not only become financially sustainable but also reach the poor, or even the poorest of the poor. Effective evaluation of the achievement of these objectives requires...