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Reducing Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in El Salvador and Honduras – Final Evaluation Report

Lessons Learned from the Integration of Gender-Based Violence Mitigation and Male Engagement Strategies for the Escúchame Project

Catalyzing Sustainable Change through Female Agent Networks: Grameen Foundation Evidence Summary

In pursuit of its mission to enable poor people, especially women, to create a world without poverty and hunger, Grameen Foundation is increasingly investing in female agent networks to expand access to DFS and non-financial services. This evidence summary provides an overview of the outcomes Grameen has measured through its support of female agents as a two-for-one strategy to achieve sustainable financial inclusion among unbanked populations and invest in the power of women.

Dismantling Bias: Lessons Learned from Grameen Foundation’s Gender and Power Dynamics Workshops within Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) Initiatives

To address and safeguard women from the harmful norms that limit women’s economic engagement in society and that can result in gender-based violence (GBV), Grameen Foundation USA (Grameen) conducts a participatory and experiential-learning methodology, known as the Gender and Power Dynamics (GPD) workshop. The workshop is implemented with local partners as a starting point for addressing gender, equity, and diversity within integrated women’s economic empowerment (WEE) programming.

Between, 2020 and 2022, under the WAGE Global Consortium, Grameen provided GPD workshops in Honduras, El Salvador, Ghana, Eswatini, and Timor-Leste to key managerial, technical, and administrative staff of 24 partner organizations (Microfinance Institutions and Non-governmental Organizations) and in some cases other local stakeholders.

MANDI Evaluation Brief

The partnership between Grameen Foundation and Walmart Foundation from 2020-23 has been instrumental in strengthening Farmer Producer Organizations' capacity to connect smallholder farmers, especially women, to market and finance, increase farmers' incomes, and build their resiliency. The partnership has positively impact the lives of more than 170,000 people, enhanced the FPOs' revenue, and laid the foundation for a better future for India's smallholder farmers.

Surviving Heat Waves Through Climate Resilient Biofortified Wheat Varieties: The Success Story of Mirjapur Jaiv Urja Farmers Producers Company

Mirjapur Jaiv Urja Farmer Producer Company, hereinafter referred to as "Jaiv Urja", was incorporated on January 30, 2019, in the Chunar region of Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district to enhance the financial resilience of smallholder farmers through promoting sustainable agricultural practices. The company started its operations with only 10 (ten) farmers and has gradually expanded its outreach to around 890 farmers, including 390 women farmers.

Dr. R.S Singh, one of the Directors of the FPC, is passionate about agricultural practices that are both sustainable and commercially viable. This combination of sustainability and profit is hard to achieve; however, Dr. Singh, a Ph.D. in agronomy, uses his skills to translate this into reality.

Under the guidance of Dr. Singh, Jaiv Urja operates to attain the following objectives:

• To promote the cultivation of medicinal plants in the Mirzapur area and promote it as a hub of medicinal plants

• To maintain the quality of planting material and produce economic development and financial resilience of the smallholder farmers

• Promote women's participation in agriculture and allied activities and

• To develop the entrepreneurial spirit in the region.

BEADS: Assisted E-Commerce and ONDC

Business Correspondent (BC) agents in India play a crucial role in providing financial services to underserved rural populations. However, their limited product basket and low commissions on banking transactions hinder their ability to earn a sustainable income. Grameen Foundation India’s BCNM Experiments and Demonstrating Scale (BEADS) project has identified assisted e-commerce as an additional revenue source for BC agents, partnering with the Centre for Development Orientation and Training (CDOT) to pilot this approach.

Exploring the Effectiveness of Low-Cost Marketing Methods for Business Correspondents in India

Marketing initiatives can help BCs to overcome challenges by increasing their visibility, creating awareness about their services, and attracting new customers. Effective marketing strategies can help BCs to increase their reach and improve their overall effectiveness in serving the unbanked population.

Gender Mainstreaming in Business Correspondent Networks

Grameen Foundation India’s Women Economic Empowerment report suggests that a woman BC agent serves a higher proportion of women customers, thereby addressing a critical gap. With the fundamental objective of facilitating financial inclusion, the BC network can no longer shy away from making a deliberate shift and a conscious choice of increasing women’s representation in the BC networks. Gender Inclusion within BC business serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it takes financial products and services to the last mile, bringing doorstep delivery and convenient access to services to women customers, the majority of who remain either excluded from or underserved by banking services. Secondly, having more women BCs as agents boosts employment opportunities at the community level, and also establishes these women as local role models as successful, influential, and respected entrepreneurs who deliver financial services to remote and underserved populations.

Reimagining the Next Generation BC Model

Grameen Foundation India The Report (GFI), together with the Business Correspondent Federation of India (BCFI), hosted a two-day CXO Roundtable on “Reimagining the Next- Generation BC Model” in Goa on Friday and Saturday, 11 November and 12 November 2022.

The invitation-only roundtable saw the industry leaders come on a common platform to communicate, collaborate and co-create a future-ready BC model that is inclusive, responsible, and viable.