Linda Jones

• From behind the veil: industry-level methodologies for disadvantaged communities in Pakistan

  01.06.2006
  'Enterprise development' has evolved from the upgrading of individual businesses to the attempted advancement of entire industries using new approaches such as value chain development and making markets work for the poor. This change has resulted in an increased focus on macro-level issues such as enabling environments, trade agreements and national associations, and some policy makers question the relevance of programmes that target microenterprises. This paper presents the case of rural homebound women in Pakistan to illustrate that, although systemic analysis is essential to good programme design, projects that specifically target marginalized communities can produce significant results that would not be achievable through industry-level interventions alone. It provides an overview of MEDA's (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) work in Pakistan with sequestered women, a description of how the programme is attempting to integrate these homebound women into lucrative value chains, results of the programme to date, and conclusions relevant to the broader development industry.

• 'We may not be big, but we're small'

  01.09.2006
  

• Vouchers revisited: can small enterprises save government programmes?

  01.12.2006
  In Tanzania, where malaria is the biggest killer and pregnant women and small children are particularly at risk, the challenge of bringing insecticide- treated nets to poor, remote rural areas is a considerable one. This article describes how microenterprises and small businesses are providing a cost-effective retail service to the public sector, receiving their usual commercial mark-up as payment for this service. Vouchers are the vehicle of exchange throughout the system, enabling target clients to acquire nets, and providing the means for tracking the impact and outreach of the programme. As results are being monitored, there is evidence that not only is the public-private partnership a success, but that the commercial distribution of unsubsidized insecticide-treated nets has been strengthened and widened.

• Gender inclusion in market systems programming

  01.03.2020
  This paper examines gender inclusion and women’s empowerment with a market systems lens. It draws on an earlier gender inclusion framework for market systems commissioned by the M4P Hub and published as a Springfield Paper in 2012 as well as an updated and expanded version of the framework published by the BEAM Exchange in 2016. This paper provides a brief background on the M4P context for gender inclusion, explores the evolution of intentional gender inclusion in economic market systems programming since 2008, outlines proven approaches to influence and facilitate private sector engagement, and describes supplementary time-bound approaches to promote and support inclusive market systems change that benefits women. It concludes with a set of guiding principles for inclusive market systems, presenting concepts that are fundamental to our understanding of gender inclusion.

• Reducing borrower and lender risk in Tajikistan through context-sensitive product and portfolio design

  01.06.2007
  How can MFIs be helped to move from mainly urban clients to smallholder farmers? This case study shows how sustainable financial services for rural households have been developed in Tajikistan. Since 2004, MEDA has been implementing a four-year $4.5 million CIDAfunded agricultural development programme that focuses on the horticulture subsector. A key component of the project is to partner with and develop the capacity of a local MFI (microfinance institution); and a $1 million agricultural loan fund has been made available for this purpose, along with technical assistance and temporary operational support. The primary technical challenges have been to assess the local context accurately and, based on the findings, assist the MFI to design appropriate products and develop a balanced portfolio to meet the needs of the borrower and lender, reducing the risk to both. Special attention has been paid to borrowers' sources of income and agricultural cycles. The disbursement and repayment of the $1m loan portfolio has been so successful that the MFI was able to cover operating costs of the portfolio from interest earned within 18 months and reported almost no default. Farmers continue to take loans, raise their incomes and seek out additional loan products. The context-sensitive design of products and the portfolio has enabled the MFI to expand successfully into rural lending. Building on this success, the MFI now manages microfinance funds of over $7 million and has become the leader in rural finance in Tajikistan over the past three years.

• Conference report on ‘Rural Finance Research: Moving results into policies and practice’, FAO, Rome

  01.06.2007
  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ford Foundation and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) jointly sponsored a conference on rural and agricultural finance (RAF) in Rome, Italy, 19-21 March 2007. The conference brought together leading experts in RAF from around the globe - researchers, practitioners, government representatives - to discuss the state of the art in RAF, to encourage collaboration, and to lay out the next steps for the further development of the industry. As indicated by the title of the conference, ‘An International Conference on Rural Finance Research: Moving Results into Policies and Practice’, the focus was on research and how to make it usable and relevant at various levels. The term ‘research’ spanned both academic/theoretical research as well as practical/action-oriented research, ensuring that a comprehensive perspective on learning and information sharing could be explored and advanced.

• Editorial

  01.06.2008
  

• Reviews and resources

  01.10.2008
  

• Incubators are unnecessary interventions that do not support business service markets

  01.03.2009
  

• A 20/20 retrospective on enterprise development: in search of impact, scale and sustainability

  01.12.2009
  This article traces the evolution of enterprise development theory and practice over the past 20 years and suggests what critical challenges this field will face over the next decade. The paper delineates four key stages (sometimes overlapping) in enterprise development - beyond credit, commercial service delivery, systems approaches and developing inclusive systems - and describes the main themes, challenges and learning of each stage. It then moves to a brief analysis of upcoming issues in the enterprise development industry.

• Editorial

  01.06.2010
  

• Editorial

  01.09.2010
  

• Editorial

  01.12.2010
  

• Editorial

  01.03.2011
  

• Editorial

  01.09.2011
  

• Editorial

  01.12.2011
  

• Editorial

  01.03.2012
  

• Editorial

  01.06.2012
  

• Crossfire: The poorest cannot be helped by any of our current models of economic development from graduation approaches to market development

  01.06.2012
  In our regular debate between two experts, Crossfire invites Ben Fowler and Linda Jones to argue the case surrounding including the poorest in our models of economic development.

• Editorial

  01.09.2012
  

• Reviews and resources

  01.09.2012
  Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo reviewed by Linda Jones

• Editorial

  01.12.2012
  

• Strengthening women's economic empowerment within the M4P framework

  01.12.2012
  The purpose of this article is to present the underpinning for a gendered approach to the M4P framework. It draws on a paper that was prepared for the M4P Hub, and presented and discussed at an M4P Hub Conference, an online conference hosted by SDC, and a two-day in-person seminar held by SDC in Bern in May 2012. This paper summarizes the conceptual findings of the published paper, provides field examples, and offers an approach for explicitly incorporating women's economic empowerment in the M4P framework. The paper first unpacks and then lays out common elements of the definition and guiding principles of women's economic empowerment, and assesses how M4P stacks up against these definitions and principles. The paper then explores the opportunities and challenges that are presented by a market-oriented perspective on women's empowerment, drawing on experiences of M4P programmes.

• Editorial: Introducing changes to EDM

  01.03.2013
  

• Editorial: Are collectives the key to change?

  01.06.2013
  

• At the nexus of investment and development: lessons from a 60-year experiment in SME impact investing

  01.12.2014
  Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) was launched as an investment club in 1953 when a group of North American Mennonite business people joined together to support the development of communities in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. With their business background, this group of early ‘impact investors’ determined that they would provide loans to small to medium enterprises (SME) in order to catalyse sustainable economic growth. They offered the loans as high-risk venture capital and mitigated the risks with the provision of business coaching and technical assistance. Since those early days, MEDA and the SME investment fund managers which it has co-founded (Microvest and Sarona Asset Management) have continued to make impactful investments and to work towards a common development goal, ‘to help people help themselves’ (Fretz, 1978 : 19). This paper presents a case study of the 60-year ‘MEDA experiment’, (Fretz, 1978), describes specific activities and innovations, and identifies MEDA's learnings that have emerged from this SME investment experience.

• Reviews

  01.03.2015
  

• Guest editorial: Poverty reduction in the FinTech age

  01.06.2018
  In recent years, debates on microfinance have gravitated towards a discussion of financial inclusion and away from the role of microcredit in poverty reduction. A consensus has emerged that although microcredit may not reduce poverty, neither does it cause harm for the most part. At a minimum, access to microcredit gives people options for managing their financial lives, usually with greater predictability, privacy and dignity, while opening the door to other forms of financial service – certainly not something to be dismissed. But, now that financial inclusion (access to finance) is almost synonymous with the financial technologies (FinTech) that enable inclusion, is financial inclusion enough and what role does FinTech play?

• Editorial: COVID-19 economic resilience

  01.06.2021
  The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the gaping inequities in market systems the world over while it has exacerbated those inequities without mercy. As I write this editorial, my own sore recently injected arm reminds me that there is massive disparity even in access to vaccines among countries and within countries. And, as always, it is the most marginalized that carry the burden of suffering – vulnerable women, extreme poor households, informal workers, communities with minority status, people with disability, youth living on the edge.

• Women’s economic empowerment and COVID-19: the case of vulnerable women with intersectional identities in Indonesia and Vietnam

  01.06.2021
  In recent decades, ASEAN has seen significant progress in gender equality and women’s empowerment. However, advances have not been even and vulnerable women with a range of intersectional identities have not benefited to the same extent as more privileged women or their male counterparts. Moreover, despite ASEAN’s much-lauded success in COVID-19 prevention and containment, the economic gains that had been achieved for women and girls are rapidly losing ground. Disruptions in the tourism sector, labour migration, and international trade have had a devastating economic impact on vulnerable populations, while innovations and new implementation approaches have provided some relief for low-income communities. This paper describes the COVID-19 economic fallout for women homeworkers and labour migrants engaged in informal jobs in Indonesia and low-income ethnic minority women in agriculture and tourism sectors in north-west Vietnam. It discusses early experiences and learning on pivoting projects, funded by the Government of Australia, to be COVID-19 responsive and contribute to longer-term recovery.

• Editorial

  01.12.2021
  Exciting times for Enterprise Development and Microfinance (EDM) journal! Over the past two years, EDM has transitioned to a completely online publication and, as of January 2022, will be Open Source.

• Editorial: A ‘Just Transition’–a meaningful movement or rhetoric that has been co-opted for other purposes?

  01.09.2022
  The phrase ‘Just Transition’ has roots in the 1990s American trade union movement, arising from the concern for workers’ welfare with a transition out of fossil fuels; a transition that could leave workers jobless and without transferrable skills despite years of undertaking potentially hazardous work. The term was coined by one of the movement’s leaders, Tony Mazzocchi, who fought for the guarantee that workers would not have to pay for clean air and water with their jobs, their living standards or their future (quoted in Nguyen, 2022). By 1997, the Just Transition Alliance was formed and continues today, with a key objective to shift toward ‘a sustainable economy that does not compromise people and our environment, one that is driven by those at the frontline and on the fencelines of unsustainable production’ (Just Transition Alliance, n.d.).

• Final Editorial

  01.12.2022