Resource Library

CGAP analyzes how MFIs around the world are using mobile money, the obstacles they encounter, and what’s working best.

This research paper shares findings from a large-scale randomized control trial conducted in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The paper describes the poverty profile of community members that participate in CRS' Savings and Internal Lending Communities and shows that CRS is reaching the very poor. Additionally, communities that paid for SILC services through Private Service Providers achieved greater resilience than those that received subsidized support through the traditional field agent approach.     About SILC Innovations

Fee-for-service savings group agents show high variability in their earnings, with most earning less than the stipends paid under the traditional Field Agent model.

A randomized control trial evaluation found that savings-group agents who operated on a fee-for-service basis showed higher variability and formed fewer groups on average than project-paid agents over the same period.

A randomized control trial evaluation shows that savings groups supported by fee-for-service agents significantly outperform groups supported by stipend-paid agents on a wide range of key financial and membership measures.

The report demonstrates how microfinance can be further leveraged to provide a powerful tool to address one of India’s persistent barriers to the economic advancement of the poor: ill health caused by lack of access to health services.

In this paper, Dr. Pascaline Drupas and Jonathan Robinson used data from a field experiment in Kenya to explore why providing individuals with simple, informal savings techniques can increase investment in preventive health and reduce vulnerability to health shocks.

Presentation on findings of projects in Uganda.

This report examines how trust can emerge and be sustained in the context of mobile transactions.

This research identifies and analyzes factors that contribute to slow uptake of mobile money in Ghana.

In this paper, we report the initial results of two rounds of a large survey of households in Kenya, the country that has seen perhaps the most rapid and widespread growth of a mobile money product—known locally as M-PESA—in the developing world.

This resource provides a coherent and helpful summary of the Michigan State University (MSU)’s Food Security Group’s research, primarily from Sub-Saharan Africa. Lessons are presented in four areas: The first, Agricultural Growth and Food Security Strategies, suggests that small shrinking farm sizes in many countries will prevent many farmers from escaping poverty from on-farm production alone. Investments in education and non-agricultural sectors will be important.