Stanford Social Innovation Review

Why grassroots design will determine the winners in developing markets.
by Joshua Weissburg

Toxic environments knock impoverished kids’ systems out of kilter.

The former president shares how ordinary citizens are helping to solve our big problems.

Despite temptations to broaden its focus, the Rural Development Institute has remained single-mindedly devoted to its mission. As a result, the organization has helped 400 million poor farmers around the world take ownership of some 270 million acres of land – all on a modest budget.

How an ecotourism company and a native community share power in Peru.

Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.

Social entrepreneurs not only must understand the broad environment in which they work, but also must shape those environments to support their goals, when feasible. Borrowing insights from the field of ecology, the authors offer an ecosystems framework to help social entrepreneurs create long-lasting and significant social change.

How accountability requirements hurt small, innovative programs the most.

To enrich Africa, oil companies and NGOs must cooperate.

Jafee provides an inside look at the world of fair trade.

To find out how best to stem corruption in development projects, a Harvard economist conducted a sophisticated experiment in 608 Javanese villages. His results challenge current wisdom: Send in the outside auditors, rather than rely on local monitors.

Michael Parker pays his new Spanish tutor $17 less than he paid his old teacher in Iowa. But his new teacher, Yesenia Mateu Grave, takes away double her normal fee. Thanks to Web conferencing, Mateu Grave teaches students around the world from her hometown in Antigua, Guatemala, via a site called Speak Shop, combining audio, video, and online chat for a classroom-like experience.

Despite the hoopla over microfinance, it doesn’t cure poverty. But stable jobs do. If societies are serious about helping the poorest of the poor, they should stop investing in microfinance and start supporting large, labor-intensive industries.

Eisler argues that “real” wealth lies in individuals and nature.

International development aid should be dissolved, argues Dichter.