{"id":9267,"date":"2021-10-27T23:56:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T22:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?p=9267"},"modified":"2021-10-28T00:05:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T23:05:37","slug":"can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance\/","title":{"rendered":"Can financial training save the soul of microfinance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Popular for 45 years, microfinance has helped millions of people to start businesses in the developing world. Yet with stories of debt and corruption is it time for all charities to put more focus on financial training for the people they are trying to help?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s tobacco season in Malawi, and looking across the now empty field, Katherine* know her work is done. However, when she got home she learned that her husband has blown all the money on a new roof for their house.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was now stuck. When they harvest the money tends to all come at once. How would she make the little money she has left last all year? How would she pay for food? Or for next years crop season?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farmers like these often turn to organisations such as Opportunity to get small loans to invest in their livelihoods. However, this is not before organisations can make sure they are equipped with the skills to use these loans effectively.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you just give people access to financial products without the training, they may not be making the right choices,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opportunity.org.uk\/about-us\/our-people\/sally-vicaria\">Sally Vicaria<\/a>, Opportunity\u2019s Director of International Programmes. \u201cThey may not know how to budget their money, they may not know how to save.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption>After they receive their loan, Field Officers visit Five Talents&#8217; clients to provide business mentoring, encouragement and continuting training.(Image credit: Five Talents)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Many microfinance organisations have evolved so that they no longer give people access to loans or savings without making sure they actually understand how to use them. It\u2019s important, Sally explained, that if you are giving loans to the most marginalised that you give at least an essence of training for them to know how to manage their money.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Microfinance is the provision of small loans, insurance, savings and other financial services for often poor communities who wish to become more economically active. Much microfinance also now includes training for its customers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/opportunity.org\/what-we-do\/micro-banking\/training\">Opportunity<\/a>, its training is done by loan officers who train all clients on basic financial skills related to earning, spending, budgeting, and borrowing money.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen we ask those [who have got a loan] one of the things that came out so clearly was that, yes, they love to have access to financial services, but it is the training that they receive, \u2026 for example, we will teach them how to really price up their goods, or how to negotiate for a better price and how to manage their business,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opportunity.org.uk\/about-us\/our-people\/lydia-baffour-awuah\">Lydia Baffour Awuah<\/a>, Senior Programme Manager at Opportunity. \u201cThose things they find very, very important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Academic Todd Watkins, believes microfinance got a few \u2018black eyes\u2019 in the early 2000s. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-south-asia-11997571\">scourage of suicides <\/a>from over in-debted borrowers in Andhra Pradesh in 2010 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development-professionals-network\/2014\/oct\/08\/developing-countries-informal-economies-microfinance-financial-inclusion\">lacking regulations<\/a> magnified this. He explains that in this period microfinance lost its belief that it could solve every problem in poverty and got jaded in the process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople were seeing it do things, as it tried to expand that probably weren&#8217;t in the best interest of the clients,\u201d said Todd. \u201cIt got a reputation, \u2026 I think unfairly in some ways got a reputation for kind of taking advantage of clients in terms of charging high prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-410x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-410x1024.jpg 410w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-120x300.jpg 120w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-770x1925.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-293x733.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-410x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-410x1024.jpg 410w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-120x300.jpg 120w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-770x1925.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Global-literacy-rates-F4-1-293x733.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivetalents.org.uk\/about\/meet-the-team\/hannah-wichmann\">Hannah Wichmann<\/a>, Programme Manager at Five Talents, explains when you are working with those with a lower education rate, it must be training first loan second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLoans obviously come with a level of risk but we want to make sure we can mitigate that as much as possible,\u201d said Hannah. \u201cWe found that the best way to do that is kind of pre-emptive before the loan is given in the 1st place rather than trying to follow up once it&#8217;s not been repaid because at that point it was probably a loan taken not at a wise time.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To many organisations, financial training is that pre-emptive measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is very little to no quantitive research on the success of microfinance before and after financial literacy training. However, research from Academics such as Vivek Gupta highlights that in some countries such as India it is loan first, loan second, and loan third and training is never even considered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u200b\u200bI think even loan officials are not properly trained on how they must impart [training] onto the loan borrowers &#8230;,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen the loan provider and the loan agent is not sensitive on such issues then how can a borrower be sensitive about it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vivek strongly ties suicides from microfinance to a lack of training or knowledge given to the borrowers of how to use that loan. He believes it is no surprise that India has one of the highest <a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/industry\/banking\/finance\/suicides-reveal-how-men-made-a-mess-of-mfis\/articleshow\/7219687.cms\">rates of suicide<\/a> but also one of the lowest rates of training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hannah explains that training has also proved very successful in areas that experience conflict such as <a href=\"https:\/\/fivetalents.org\/south-sudan\">South Sudan<\/a>. Those communities and groups often have to physically move to another town so equipping them with the training early on has been vital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBecause they within themselves have the knowledge of how to run the group and they are able to move and then continue somewhere else,\u201d said Hannah. \u201cSo we find that they do that so I think for us we see that as being those kinds of contexts as being our focus and where what we do can really add value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-business-management-training-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption>Female financial training at the Los Angeles de Amor Trust Group, Colombia (Image credit: Opportunity)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By empowering members through education and training, Five Talents are trying to enable individuals to mobilise and take ownership over their own finances and earning potential even if they are displaced by conflict. Helping to avoid dependence on charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia explains that with almost all of their training programmes they always try to put a gender lens on it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe way we may view money might be slightly different from how men view it,\u201d she said. \u201cSo in terms of the topics, they might be the same but how it is delivered and examples and the case studies that are used just to make it more context-specific for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sally explains that the focus on women has always been intentional. She refers to the belief that that the face of poverty is a female face. That the training is essential for women, who make up <a href=\"https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/microfinance-and-women-micro-mystique\">74%<\/a> of all microfinance clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the money that we&#8217;re giving to the women are just the catalyst, it is the training, the network systems and the support system that we put in place that really helped them to use the money effectively,\u201d said Lydia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia explains that as women are often late adopters of technology (reference), so have been pairing their training with phones they give to the women.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe realises that not all of the women do have access to mobile phones, especially those in rural communities,\u201d said Lydia. \u201cSo one of the things that opportunity have been trying to do for the past few months or a year is to help those who may have no phones so we&#8217;ve been providing them with basic phones so that they can also use it for financial transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also train the women as \u2018pre-educators\u2019 to help other women in their communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWithin the community, we have people we call community ambassadors. So they are basically women that are like community leaders,\u201d said Lydia. \u201cWe trained them how to deliver this training so that if a woman is trying to make any transaction using their phone, and they get stuck, they can go and ask questions or ask for help.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has been successful for Opportunity as it allows them to make the communities self-sustaining.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"9712\" data-link=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?attachment_id=9712\" class=\"wp-image-9712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-770x434.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"9712\" data-link=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?attachment_id=9712\" class=\"wp-image-9712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-770x434.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-financial-literacy-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"9713\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?attachment_id=9713\" class=\"wp-image-9713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"9713\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?attachment_id=9713\" class=\"wp-image-9713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach.jpg 780w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/opportunity-international-training-outreach-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">Opportunity&#8217;s  training is designed to increase clients&#8217; use of savings accounts&nbsp;and insurance products, improve their credit, and diversify their financial assets. (Image credit: Opportunity)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia also explains that when it comes to working with communities they always rely on local expertise. If there is an issue with gender violence, land ownership, or training that they want to do, they always rely on the local \u2018policy makers\u2019 within the community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe can approach them to support us, so those partnerships, I think, and are very critical in terms of whether it will be successful or not within the communities that we work in,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She further acknowledges that whilst Opportunity focuses on the financial side these strategic partners bring so much to their operations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know that we are good and best on the finance side,\u201d said Lydia. \u201cBut we are not on the business or working with farmers in terms of providing the technical know-how on how they can plant their crops and maybe maximise their production, or we don&#8217;t know how to link them up with markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hannah also explained that Five Talents found that giving more of the governance to local partners allowed them greater ability to provide financial education. They found before that often the pressures on an organisation that is managing a microfinance portfolio meant that the time that could be dedicated to training was reduced.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying through our approach to people is actually you can do this, you can manage this let us support you but you will be leading this and that&#8217;s a very different approach to one of a more traditional microfinance organisation where somebody saves in and they\u2019re money is managed and the rules are set and it&#8217;s much more customer-client relationship,\u201d said Hannah.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Combining financial literacy training and microfinance may not lift everyone out of poverty like the hope was at the beginning of the century. However, it may see a <a href=\"https:\/\/gflec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Millennials-and-Financial-Literacy-Research-Paper.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new generation<\/a> of financially literate people begin to grow in the developing world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe potential is not poverty alleviation, the potential is one toolset toward making people have a better ability to manage their financial lives,\u201d said Todd. \u201cAnd that&#8217;s really valuable to people, even if it&#8217;s not helping them completely escape poverty, but managing financial ups and downs in their daily lives and the flow of cash in and out and the ability to get some assurance and the ability to put money away for your retirement and your kids\u2019 education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"Why did Muhammad Yunus win a Nobel Prize?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MjVyDSdQikY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"Why did Muhammad Yunus win a Nobel Prize?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MjVyDSdQikY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Small loans has helped thousands of people to start businesses in the developing world. Will education help microfinance avoid the mistakes of its past?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":600,"featured_media":9711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[230,242,283],"class_list":["post-9267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-business","tag-charity","tag-training"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can financial training save the soul of microfinance? - Life360<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can financial training save the soul of microfinance? - Life360\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Small loans has helped thousands of people to start businesses in the developing world. Will education help microfinance avoid the mistakes of its past?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life360\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-27T22:56:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-27T23:05:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/10\/Credit-Five-Talents-Training.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucy Hynam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lucy_hynam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucy Hynam\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/can-financial-training-save-the-soul-of-microfinance\/\",\"name\":\"Can financial training save the soul of microfinance? 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