Micro finance loans are a technique to empower poor entrepreneurs in the developing world to create wealth for themselves and their family. This technique uses small loans to allow them to invest in their businesses enough to overcome inherent gaps in the indigenous infrastructure. Oftentimes, however, developed countries create cost subsidies for the very products that these entrepreneurs are attempting to sell. This creates a competitive market system in which the poor are pitted against the developed world. This decidedly lopsided environ destroys the entrepreneur's business and his hopes for future independent sustainability.
An example of this is our recent attempt to start a chicken farm in Haiti to provide much needed protein and jobs to the people. After an initial success, we found our model struggling because the developed world was underwriting the cost of eggs sold in the Haitian markets. In fact, it was cheaper for the Haitians to buy American eggs than it was for them to buy chicken feed. While the developed world governments certainly have good intentions, the end results curb micro enterprise.
How can we create sustainable growth in developing world markets in the face of such daunting competition?www.mmdr.org
