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1. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grameenfoundation.org/ 2. Westover, J. (2008). The record of microfinance: The effectiveness/ineffectiveness of microfinance programs as a means of alleviating poverty. Electronic Journal of Sociology, 12(1).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBgMa5uIBg8

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The farm plan also helped them to fight off the coffee berry borer, a beetle that is the most important insect pest of coffee worldwide. In Colombia, the borer dogs the production of over half a million growers, 96 percent of whom farm on less than five hectares.

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Angeline credits her good fortune to her involvement with ASHI, a microfinance organization and Grameen Foundation partner. When Angeline and her mother took out an ASHI loan, their first purchase was a store freezer. From that humble beginning, they transformed her mother's store, stocked with only a few necessities, into the largest sari-sari around, selling fresh meat and vegetables.

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Now, thanks to loans from Sonata, Shanti is the owner of a small general store and in tune with an entirely new schedule of seasons. Before the start of the school year, she stocks pencils, pens, and paper on her shop's shelves, and before each festival, she stocks goods for that particular celebration.

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Racheal works with 200 smallholder farmers in Grameen Foundation's AgroTech project. She uses its digital app suite to analyze and understand each farm's history and needs. She teaches the farmers new practices, trains them in record keeping, and helps them obtain loans to purchase inputs.

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“Women have proven to be the best poverty fighters. Experience and studies have shown that women use the profits from their businesses to send their children to school, improve their families’ living conditions and nutrition, and expand their businesses. When they use their profits to make better lives for their children, women help break the generational cycle of poverty.”

-Grameen Foundation

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(Westover, 2008)

1. Can be an effective way to provide low- cost financial services to poor individuals and families 2. Has been shown to help in the development and growth of the local economy as individuals and families are able to move past subsistence living and increase disposable income 3. Is able to reduce poverty through increasing individual and household income levels, as well as improving healthcare, nutrition, education, and helping to empower women.

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Microfinance refers to high quality, affordable financial services provided to low income people, usually those below the poverty line (income of less than US $1.25 per day) who do not have access to traditional financial services. One of the key features of microfinance is the microloan, small loan amounts offered at reasonable interest rates to empoverished people to initiate business or agriculture projects that, ultimately, provide a sustainable opportunity to create financial independence. Current research is not conclusive on microfinance’s overall effect on poverty reduction.

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• “We seek to empower the world’s poor, especially the poorest women • "We hold ourselves and our partners accountable for transparency and measurable results, including social and financial performance • "We champion innovation that makes a difference in the lives of the poor • "We first seek to form partnerships with those who can advance our mission before acting alone • "We respect, invest in and promote local social entrepreneurs and local ownership • "We honor the voice, professionalism and integrity of our staff and volunteers”

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“To enable the poor, especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty”

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Inspiration for the Grameen Foundation came directly from the work of Muhammad Yunus, a professor from Bangladesh who questioned the activities of loan sharks who were providing high interest loans to very poor people in that country. Recognizing the value of these loans and the undermining effects of the way in which they were administered, Professor Yunus began his own funding organization, the Grameen Bank, with $27.

Over the years,the Grameen Bank has become one of the largest and most successful microfinance loan organizations in the world. Alex Counts, current president of the Grameen Foundation, worked closely with Professor Yunus for six years before founding the organization. Professor Yunus remains a director emeritus on the Foundation’s board of directors.

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Ø Founded in 1997

Ø Helps the world’s poorest people by funding institutions that help them to help themselves through financial services (e.g., microloans, savings and financial services)

Ø Emphasis on health and agriculture

Ø Geographic target areas:

Central and Latin America Asia

Middle East and North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Ø Partners with Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Limited and Grameen Foundation India

Ø Since its inception, has assisted 9.4 million of the world’s poorest people with a distribution of $225 million

Ø Located in Washington, D.C.