• Login
    View Item 
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Microfinance impact and the MDGs : the challenge of scaling-up

    Thumbnail
    Download
    Wp255.pdf (421.9Kb)
    Date
    2006
    Author
    Greeley, Martin
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Impact
    Abstract
    This paper concerns the potential for microfinance to make a difference in achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. It recognises that microfinance can contribute to several MDGs but that to do so in ways that make a real difference would involve a significant scaling-up of microfinance service provision. Herein lies the challenge. The expansion of developing country microfinance services is increasingly driven by commercial investors who do not usually assess Microfinance Institution (MFI) performance according to MDG criteria. At best, they will use some fairly loose ‘social’ criteria often borrowed from the corporate social responsibility literature; or they may refer, usually without precision, to a double bottom line of financial and social performance. These have little or nothing to do with achievement of the MDGs. As the empirical material presented makes clear, MFIs that do not deliberately and rigorously target poor households are unlikely to make any difference to MDG attainment. MFIs with a social mission focused on poverty reduction (MDG1) face a genuine difficulty. To expand coverage of poor households, they generally need to seek financial support, usually in the form of loans or equity. Their difficulty is that they face a serious risk of ‘mission drift’, concentrating on achieving an outstanding financial performance, which is necessary anyway and especially if they wish to access commercial funds, and neglecting their social mission. In other words, commercial funding may mean less attention to poor households in microfinance service delivery. The challenge for the industry is to manage scaling-up without losing sight of its social purposes. The paper argues for client-level assessment by MFIs that can both ensure that poor households are targeted and that microfinance impact on their poverty status can be monitored. Developing a social performance monitoring system based on client assessment is the principal way in which MFI impact on the MDGs can be established and maintained. Keywords: microfinance, poverty, Millennium Development Goals, scaling-up, social performance, targeting, monitoring.
    URI
    https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/4048
    Citation
    Greeley, M. (2006) Microfinance impact and the MDGs : the challenge of scaling-up. Working paper series, 255. Brighton: IDS.
    Is part of series
    IDS working papers;255
    Library catalogue entry
    http://bldscat.ids.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=157114
    Rights holder
    Institute of Development Studies
    Rights details
    http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/IDSOpenDocsStandardTermsOfUse.pdf
    Collections
    • IDS Research [1594]

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies
     

     

    Browse

    All of OpenDocsCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies