A Principle for Small Producers:
Think Sustainable Profits
by Valeria Budinich
Overview by Dr. Malcolm Harper
Profits are a necessary condition for the success of an enterprise, and sustainable profits are crucial to the success of any long-term development project. This month, Changemakers Journal focuses on how the principle "think sustainable profits" is a key principle to guide work of social entrepreneurs who serve the needs of artisans, small farmers, shepherds, street vendors and many other classes of small producers around the world.
Sustainable profits go beyond economic measurements to focus first on those who will achieve social change – the individual clients and their communities – as well as the resources and market opportunities available to them. In this context, social entrepreneurs become facilitators, and many times also leaders, of a long-term development process.
To illustrate how social entrepreneurs build their work around this principle, this month's Journal features three successful projects: a women's bank in India, a micro- and small-enterprise development project in South Africa, and a project that helps local fisherman and small producers in resource-depleted areas of Northeast Brazil become more profitable.
Go to the Changemakers Library for selected Internet resources about Leveraging Microfinance for Systemic Social Change
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Inside . . .
Overview by Dr. Malcolm Harper
You Can Bank on It:
Women are Doin' It for Themselves
In India, a group of asset-less, rural women have created, and now operate, a highly successful bank for themselves
By Pritha Sen
Balancing Sustainability with
Service to the Poorest of the Poor
Not content to be among the most successful and efficient microfinance programs, SEF targets the most poor
By Sharda Naidoo
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