AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

108 BERNICE CAMPOS ROLDAN
ports the concerns raised over ‘the high cost of capacity building and the
poor record of continued utilization of skills gained in vocational training
programs’. Difficult choices would have to be made in order to maximize
resources, but again, in choosing between modifying the client and
environment, or modifying the service, it is critical to be guided by the
logic of the poor and the dynamics of poverty if we seek to better include
them in program interventions.
CONCLUSION: SOLUTIONS AND TRADE-OFFS
In revisiting the microfinance for poverty alleviation debate, this paper
compared and contrasted the research contributions and perspectives of
various authors, and placed emphasis on those that examined the phenomenon
through the lenses of self-help, gender and targeting. To challenge
the suitability of the ‘one size fits all’ model of microfinance in
reaching out to the poorest, this paper presented case studies and innovations
targeting the very poor. Conscious attempts were made to present
both ‘hits and misses’ in the literature. Studies indicate that just as
no perfect targeting mechanism exists, no perfect microfinance model
for the poorest seems to exist either. It is evident that solutions come
with their accompanying trade-offs, so it is critical to take the context
into account when employing microfinance strategies for poverty alleviation.
In closing, this paper highlights the need to put development back
into microfinance, to tailor it as a poverty alleviation instrument more
than a profit-making enterprise. This requires not only the poor going
through change in the process. Credit programs, MFIs, policy-making
institutions and international development agencies should be reformed
as well, bearing in mind the capacities of the poorest and the dynamics
of poverty. Microfinance for poverty alleviation is more than a technical
activity. Making tough choices between approaches of targeting and program
design, or between the comprehensive and minimalist approach in
microfinance, or questioning our assumptions in development – these
are clearly political acts as well. It is critical for those designing, implementing,
monitoring or funding program interventions to seriously attempt
to prevent the poorest from falling under the radar.