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There is no doubt that there is something to microcredit, though there are critics. But have we let the hype behind the idea, (see Rob's post about Yunus' Nobel Peace Prize) blind our ability to see its faults?  This Forbes article, Easy Money, goes deeper into some of the fallacies of microfinance.  It's worth reading.  An excerpt:

In the K.R. Puram slum in Bangalore, India, a group of 15 women gather in a small, muggy living room. The electricity comes and goes, turning the fan and the single bare lightbulb on and off. Flies buzz around the room, and children run in and out.

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"Most companies routinely fail to recognize the link between healthy ecosystems and their business interests...Business simply cannot function if ecosystems and the services they deliver--like water, biodiversity, food, fibre and climate regulation--are degraded or out of balance."

SocialFunds.com published a great story today reminding readers of the fundamental importance of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's findings: that, essentially, "Business and ecosystem services are inextricably linked." The days when we can pretend profits and environmental stability are independent of each other are quickly fading, and the private sector stands at a crossroads where it will have to decide whether or not to take global challenges such as loss of biodiversity seriously.

To offer a ray of optimism, I and the rest of the New Ventures team sifted through our portfolio to find ten of the best examples of entrepreneurs who have not only decided to address these ecological challenges, but have found a profitable market opportunity in creating scalable solutions. The ten companies profiled represent a slew of industries and five different regions, but whether they sell waterless car washes or sustainable perfume additives, each business is tapping into growing markets for green products.

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Remember Innovations?  First issued this past March, Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization is a relatively new journal from MIT Press about people using technology and new modes of organization to address global challenges.  I wrote about it on NextBillion back then, after Phil Auerswald graciously sent over a pre-publication copy.  At the time, I called it "a must-read for anyone interested in creative, local solutions to the world's problems", and suggested that "its content bridges the gap between 'whatever works' BOP practice and rigorous academic analysis."  More than six months later, I stand by my assessment, in part due to their upcoming issue's focus: microfinance and technology.

Those of us interested in reading more about microfinance and technology will have to wait until next March, but I’m sure there are plenty of NextBillion readers who are practitioners in this emerging field.  If so, consider submitting a paper.  Nick Sullivan, whose forthcoming book You Can Hear Me Now focuses on the impact of cell phone companies in development, is also publisher of Innovations.  He sent over some general criteria for submission:

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NextBillion ally Wayne Farmer e-mailed me yesterday with some exciting news: his company, Next Steps Research, is hiring. Before joining the founders at Next Steps, Wayne was involved in running the HealthStore Foundation, which manages a network of nurse-owned and operated pharmacy clinics in Kenya (WRI funded and edited a case study of the HealthStore model - read it in the Resources section).

According to their web site, Next Steps Research focuses on due diligence and portfolio management; they offer "two proven and proprietary tools to help investors assess intellectual property such as patents and innovations, as well as the entrepreneurs and management teams tasked with bringing products to market and executing business plans." Their concurrent activities also serve to facilitate the deployment of capital from philanthropists and foundations to social entrepreneurs.

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NB's Chapel Hill NC correspondent, Jacob Kramer-Duffield, has sent an interesting job posting our way.  Jake, a former sometime WRI staffer, and now a PhD student at UNC's School of Information and Library Science, keeps close tabs on the goings-on at Google.  Google.org, the company's hybrid NGO/for-profit philanthropy/investment facility, is seeking candidates for their Global Poverty & Sustainable Development programs.  As Google describes it, the new team will work "to innovate, establish and support sustainable models for global development" using "market-based, entrepreneurial approaches that promote sustainable economic growth and empowerment."  It is a "poverty alleviation strategy" combined with an active "portfolio of grants and investments."  Hmmm...

There are skeptics in any field – base of the pyramid business is no different. Over the years, however, the nature of BOP skepticism has changed. At first, many questioned whether low-income, emerging markets really mattered to businesses' bottom lines and growth strategies. While there are those who still argue that BOP markets are best left to development agencies and charity, the general feeling is that business has a role to play in these markets. Instead, skeptics now ask: if business has a role to play, where are they? According to base of the pyramid champions, there are massive, untapped markets out there – so why haven't there been associated investments geared towards tapping the opportunity?

There's no simple answer. Business opportunities don’t materialize overnight; firms need time to establish relationships, map out strategy, and pilot new models – especially in the unfamiliar territory of developing economies. Still, many critics rightly point out that 4 years have passed since Prahalad and Hart introduced the bottom of the pyramid hypothesis. In a business world fixated on quarterly earnings reports, 4 years is a lifetime. Show me the money, they say.

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Ah, the Tech Museum Awards. It was a night when large tech companies and foundations joined together to support the work of smaller humanitarian tech innovators.

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I first reported on Village: The Game – think SimCity meets social entrepreneurship – back in August.  At the time, the game's web site featured little more than a proposal and the passionate musings of its creator, Darian Hickman.  I checked back in on Village: The Game today, and much has happened since August:

...we are targeting January 2007 to release an alpha of Village and get some real world feedback. Game demo design is complete. The first round of 2D concept art for buildings is complete, but we can change to make sure it matches well with other level art.

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As I looked over the Social Capitalist Award winners (again) this morning, I couldn't help thinking about the Fast 50 Awards - also done by Fast Company.

While the Social Capitalist Awards include NGOs and charities that are using business strategies to make the world better, the Fast 50's are a bit more stringent. No charities need apply - just businesses. We've written about this opportunity before, but I'll urge anyone who's working with or for a possible nominee to get their information submitted before December 1. The FC web site describes what they're looking for:

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Three quarters of India's population lives in rural areas. Individual households in these communities tend to spend about $50 per year on primary healthcare. This is hardly enough to pay for private coverage, yet many of these underserved consumers are not reached by government programs. While the annual expenditures households in the countryside make toward health services may not amount to much individually, they collectively represent the kind of impressive purchasing power we often refer to in discussion of BOP-oriented business models.

Gram Mooligai, a recent addition to the New Ventures portfolio, recognized that the gap between poor, rural dwellers and basic healthcare could be profitably filled by a company willing to meet the specific needs of these consumers. Gram Mooligai's innovative solution is successful because it is tailored to this BOP market. The company relies on India's wealth of biological diversity to sustainably harvest traditional herbal remedies that it sells under the Village Herbs label. The herbs form part of the Ayurvedic system of healing, one with a strong heritage in India and that has a great deal of influence in many rural areas. These medicines have been provided to over 30,000 households by a network of 300 women health practitioners with prior experience in non-profit work.

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