Alana Albee and Nandasiri Gamage, Our Money, Our Movement: Building a Poor People's Credit Union, ITDG Publishing, 1997.
Credit and savings mechanisms are becoming a powerful tool in development, but many initiatives are only now aiming for the ownership of these mechanisms to be in the hands of the borrowers themselves. Our Money, Our Movement describes how this goal has already been reached by the Women's Credit Union in Sri Lanka. It challenges the more conventional 'delivery' approach to development by illustrating how financial services can be controlled and managed by the poor, rather than delivered to them, an approach which has long been a fundamental tenet of the credit union movement. This is essential and inspiring reading for development agency staff, and others either interested in people's movements or involved in credit and savings initiatives.

Beatriz Armendariz De Aghion and Jonathan Morduch, The Economics of Microfinance, The MIT Press, 2005.
"A great place to learn how and why microfinance really works, and where it hits its limits. The book, written by two leading young economists, brims with new evidence and provides fresh perspectives on old debates. Clearly written and sharply argued, it revisits and transforms important ideas about poverty reduction, finance, and incentives. The authors describe what we know and what we need to know in order to move forward." -Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor of Economics and Finance, Columbia University, Nobel Laureate in Economics (2001)

David Bornstein, The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank, Oxford University Press, 2005.
The Price of a Dream tells the remarkable story of the Grameen Bank, the groundbreaking "village bank" that has revolutionized the way people around the world fight poverty. The Bank's model--providing collateral-free "micro-loans" for self-employment to millions of women villagers in Bangladesh--has inspired and shaped the thinking of economists, policy makers, business people, development workers and a generation of social entrepreneurs. Both liberal and conservative policy circles have championed the Bank's ability to transform the lives of its clients and help them escape the vicious cycle of deep economic hardship. Drawing upon interviews with villagers, development workers, economists, and the Bank's founder Muhammad Yunus--a recipient of numerous humanitarian awards--the book shows how the Grameen Bank grew from an experiment in one village to an organization that lends billions of dollars in small individual loans.

Malcolm Harper, Microfinance: Evolution, Achievement and Challenges (Key Writings on Microfinance), ITDG Publishing, 2004.
Selected by Malcolm Harper, this compilation comprises fourteen articles on the major developments in microfinance in the last twelve years. Some show how certain aspects of the field have changed quite dramatically, others cover issues which have continued throughout the period to preoccupy practitioners and policy makers, and others raise critical and worrying concerns about the future of microfinance. All have been written by experienced authorities, with practical experience, and several are widely regarded as seminal contributions. The reader will be useful for students and others who are looking for a wide-ranging introduction to microfinance, for national and international policy makers and donors, and for people who work in the field and are looking for a broad overview of trends and alternative strategies. Includes an introduction by Malcolm Harper, founding editor of the journal "Small Enterprise Development."

Malcolm Harper, Practical Microfinance: A Training Manual, ITDG Publishing, 2003.
Practical Microfinance provides detailed step-by-step descriptions for twenty-two sessions which together offer a complete 5 to 10 day course on microfinance. The sessions may also be used individually, selected from to make up tailor-made courses, or integrated with other materials. The sessions cover a wide range of topics including: introduction to financial accounts; undertaking field visits; analysis of MFIs; group and individual lending; micro-insurance and micro-savings; and measuring the impact of microfinance. The sessions have been extensively tested in courses at the Cranfield School of Management in the UK, and in a number of different institutions in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere. The session exercise and case study handouts may be photocopied for participants or customized to meet trainees' needs via freely available web files. An introductory chapter includes advice on how to use the material in the book and a list of recommended resources and full index are provided for ease of reference.

Malcolm Harper and Sukhwinder Singh Arora, Small Customers, Big Market: Commercial Banks in Microfinance, Intermediate Technology Publications, 2005.
This book shows commercial bankers that they can profitably provide microfinance services to the poor. It illustrates, through the experience of particular banks, why banks have become involved and how they have made a success of their involvement. The eighteen case studies all show that banks can earn good profits at the same time as serving the needs of people who previously lacked access to financial services. The authors also demonstrate to foreign aid donors, policy makers, NGO staff and microfinance practitioners that it is often quicker, less expensive and more effective for microfinance services to be provided by commercial banks than by specialist microfinance institutions.

Joanna Ledgerwood, Microfinance Handbook: An Institutional and Financial Perspective (Sustainable Banking with the Poor), World Bank Publications, 1998.
There are over 500 million economically active poor people in the world operating microenterprises and small businesses, but most are without access to adequate financial services. The Handbook offers guiding principles and tools for promoting sustainable microfinance and creating viable institutions.

Maria Otero and Elisabeth Rhyne, The New World of Microenterprise Finance: Building Healthy Financial Institutions for the Poor, Kumarian Press, 1994.
"Reviews some of the most innovative work currently under way...The major theme is that viable, self-sustaining financial intermediaries can be created to service a low-income microenterprise clientele. Essential to this effort is not subsidized credit but rather a focused strategy to mobilize domestic savings, adoption of market rates of interest, and promotion of innovative lending practices and new organizational designs." -Douglas H. Graham, Ohio State University

K. P. Padmanabhan, Rural Credit: Lessons for Rural Bankers and Policy Makers, ITDG Publishing, 1989.
What is - and what should be - the role of rural credit in developing countries? The author steers the reader though this discussion and towards sound practical conclusions, using examples from India, Brazil, Cameroon, Malawi and the Philippines.

Elisabeth H. Rhyne, Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew, and Came of Age in Bolivia, Kumarian Press, 2001.
Some people tout microfinance as the most important tool now available for fighting poverty while still others doubt its contribution to the "truly" poor. This volume offers a reasoned, moderate voice on the virtues and problems of microfinance. Drawing on the success story of Bolivia, Rhyne traces the transformation of NGOs into formal financial institutions, and examines microfinance under the conditions of commercialization and competition that have altered the dynamics of the new industry.

Marguerite Robinson, The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor, World Bank Publications, 2001.
"..this book...gives us a history lesson and a guide on how to build commercial finance that fits the needs of the world's poorest majority. Policy makers, finance leaders, and anyone who wants to join this revolution in banking must read this book." -World Bank Publications.

Eugene Versluysen, Defying the Odds: Banking for the Poor, Kumarian Press, 1999.
"A very readable overview of microfinance on three continents that would serve as a useful introduction for those who have a macroeconomic orientation to international development and are interested in understanding the world of microfinance and its possible contribution to the solution of international development problems." -Carter Garber, Microfinance Consultant

To find out about opportunities for training in the microfinance field, see the article on Microfinance Educational Opportunities .




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