Seven years ago during the Acumen fellowship program, I was challenged to spend a day on the streets of New York trying to better understand the plight of the 59,000+ homeless in New York City. The experience was an exercise … Read More
Early on a Friday morning, a man walks into a convenience store and buys a six-pack of beer. He hands the clerk a few bills and walks back to his spot on the street, eager to start the morning buzz. … Read More
Mohammed Shafi is an eight-acre farmer who must support fifty members of his family by farming, raising a few water buffalo, and working as a day laborer. He cannot afford to cover his expenses and as such, must take loans … Read More
Mohammed Ishmail is an eleven-acre farmer who doesn’t need a broker to diversify his portfolio. Like his counterparts in the developed world who invest in various types of stocks and bonds in order to spread the risk on their portfolios, … Read More
Zulfiqar Ali, a four-acre farmer in the small village of Dabri, Pakistan, doesn’t travel to his nearest bank branch when he needs some cash. All he has to do is open the door to a room where he stores his … Read More
Recently, I conducted some in-depth farmer interviews around Hyderbad, Pakistan and learned about some pretty interesting innovations that are happening on the ground. Keep in mind that these are not college-educated individuals; most have not even finished high school. What … Read More
Micro Drip is a company that is committed to demonstrating the highest level of ethical behavior. Unfortunately in Pakistan, that makes our job even more difficult than it already is. Besides the obvious benefit of helping farmers earn more with … Read More
Think for a moment what it is like to take a normal drive from your house or apartment to a daily destination such as the gym, store, or work. Now compare that with my 10-20 minute trip to the gym. … Read More
Anyone who has worked at the Base of the Pyramid can tell you that human resources is a major challenge. Recruiting and retaining good talent can be a nightmare and has major implications for how fast (or slow) a social … Read More
Starting a business is hard enough, but starting a social enterprise (a business that has a social focus) is even harder. For Micro Drip, we are still very much working to refine our business model so that we can successfully … Read More